When Clarissa Haglid completed culinary school at the Delaware Food Bank last summer, it was the first time she had graduated from anything in her life.
去年夏天，当克拉丽莎·哈格利德 (Clarissa Haglid) 在特拉华州食品银行 (Delaware Food Bank) 完成烹饪学校学业时，这是她一生中第一次从任何学校毕业。
Just a few years earlier, a goal like that did not seem within reach. In 2020, she was charged with armed robbery and later sentenced to prison. Haglid told VOA that she “lost everything,” including the custody of her children.
就在几年前，这样的目标似乎还遥不可及。 2020年，她被指控武装抢劫，后被判入狱。哈格利德告诉美国之音，她“失去了一切”，包括孩子的监护权。
As she approached the end of her four-year prison sentence, she learned about a restaurant service training program available to people in jail. Haglid started attending culinary school classes at the Food Bank in Newark, Delaware, when she received permission to take part in the work-release program. Through the 14-week program, students learned cooking and life skills to prepare them for a job in the restaurant or hospitality industry.
当她的四年刑期即将结束时，她了解到一个为监狱里的人提供的餐厅服务培训计划。当哈格利德获得参加工作释放计划的许可后，她开始参加特拉华州纽瓦克食品银行的烹饪学校课程。通过为期 14 周的课程，学生学习烹饪和生活技能，为他们在餐厅或酒店业的工作做好准备。
Some of the students currently at Newark were incarcerated like Haglid. Others are in substance abuse recovery programs or underemployed, meaning they have been out of the workforce for a long time, said Anna McDermott. She is the Food Bank’s Chief Impact Officer.
目前在纽瓦克的一些学生像哈格利德一样被监禁。安娜·麦克德莫特说，其他人正在参加药物滥用康复计划或就业不足，这意味着他们已经离开劳动力市场很长时间了。她是食品银行的首席影响官。
Haglid and other students learned how to use knives in cooking, correct food preparation, and how to make the five foundational “mother” sauces and other skills. The program also teaches teamwork, work ethic and time management .
哈格利德和其他学生学习了如何在烹饪中使用刀具、正确的食物准备以及如何制作五种基本的“母”酱料和其他技能。该项目还教授团队合作、职业道德和时间管理。
Those kinds of life skills, also called “soft skills,” are taught to “make sure that folks are really familiar with what is expected of them in the workplace to maintain employment,” McDermott said. “Getting a job is the easiest part, sometimes. It’s maintaining that job.”
麦克德莫特说，教授这些生活技能，也称为“软技能”，是为了“确保人们真正熟悉工作场所对他们的期望，以维持就业”。 “有时候，找到一份工作是最容易的部分。关键是维持这份工作。”
At the end of the program, students are provided an entry-level job through the state restaurant association. Haglid is an apprentice at a nearby hotel, where she receives a paycheck and additional training as a cook.
课程结束后，学生将通过州餐馆协会获得入门级工作。哈格利德是附近一家酒店的学徒，在那里她获得薪水并接受额外的厨师培训。
“This program meant everything to me because…it was a way for me to get not my life back, but a life to begin with,” Haglid said. Attending the culinary school started to “bridge the gap of restora tion between me and my kids.”
“这个项目对我来说意味着一切，因为……它不是让我重获生活的一种方式，而是一种重新开始生活的方式，”哈格利德说。参加烹饪学校开始“弥合我和孩子们之间的恢复差距”。
Haglid was able to attend the classes through a U.S. Department of Labor program called HOPES, Hospitality Opportunities for People Reentering Society. HOPES is operated through the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation (NRAEF), an industry group, which partners with community organizations like the Delaware Food Bank. The group’s goal with HOPES is to get incarcerated people training and jobs in the restaurant industry.
哈格利德能够通过美国劳工部的一项名为“HOPES”（为人们重新进入社会提供接待机会）的计划来参加这些课程。 HOPES 由国家餐馆协会教育基金会 (NRAEF) 运营，该基金会是一个行业组织，与特拉华州食品银行等社区组织合作。该组织与 HOPES 的目标是为被监禁者提供培训并在餐饮业提供就业机会。
Rob Gifford is president of the NRAEF. He said restaurant jobs help prevent recidivism, the word for returning to prison. Gifford said food service jobs help people released from prison get work and a way to earn money as soon as possible.
罗布·吉福德 (Rob Gifford) 是 NRAEF 主席。他说，餐馆工作有助于防止累犯，即重返监狱。吉福德说，食品服务工作可以帮助刑满释放的人尽快找到工作和赚钱的途径。
Food service, he said, has a “relatively low barrier to entry,” compared to other jobs that might require more training. Since prisons provide food service, there is already a place to provide training. And unlike other work, restaurant jobs often do not require college or even high school degrees.
他说，与其他可能需要更多培训的工作相比，餐饮服务的“进入门槛相对较低”。由于监狱提供膳食服务，因此已经有一个提供培训的地方。与其他工作不同，餐厅工作通常不需要大学甚至高中学位。
“We’re allowing these individuals to get on their feet quickly via the restaurant industry, but we're giving them ... transferable skills ,” Gifford said. “When they decide they're ready to move on to their next opportunity … they’re positioned for success.”
“我们允许这些人通过餐饮业快速站稳脚跟，但我们给他们……可转移的技能，”吉福德说。 “当他们决定准备好抓住下一个机会时……他们就已经为成功做好了准备。”
Employment for formerly imprisoned people is very important to prevent recidivism. The NRAEF says that formerly imprisoned people who maintained a job for the first year following their release had a 16 percent recidivism rate over three years. That is compared to a 52 percent recidivism rate for those that did not maintain employment. The unemployment rate for people formerly incarcerated is more than six times the national rate.
刑满释放人员的就业对于防止累犯非常重要。 NRAEF 表示，曾被监禁的人在获释后第一年仍保有工作，三年内的累犯率高达 16%。相比之下，那些没有维持就业的人的累犯率为 52%。曾被监禁者的失业率是全国失业率的六倍多。
Gifford said about 1000 people have gone through the HOPES program nationwide, and two-thirds are currently employed.
吉福德说，全国约有 1000 人参加了 HOPES 计划，三分之二目前已就业。
Haglid, who said she is regaining custody of her children, plans to continue her work in restaurants and one day lead a kitchen as a chef. She also said she wants to support the educational and job training programs that helped her find work. She said the programs are needed to prevent recidivism and provide hope for the future.
哈格利德表示，她正在重新获得孩子的监护权，她计划继续在餐馆工作，有一天作为一名厨师领导一家厨房。她还表示，她希望支持帮助她找到工作的教育和职业培训计划。她说，这些计划是为了防止累犯并为未来带来希望。
“When you realize you have the ability to learn, (it) almost creates a hunger in you where you want to absorb as much as you possibly can,” Haglid said. “You begin to have a drive that you never had before.”
哈格利德说：“当你意识到自己有学习的能力时，你几乎会产生一种饥饿感，想要尽可能多地吸收知识。” “你开始拥有以前从未有过的动力。”