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Life Learning Center receives a $101,000 Impact 100 grant for its Pillars Cafe transformation project


Life Learning Center (LLC) was recognized as one of four 2022 Impact 100 Grant Recipients and received a $101,000 award to support its Life Learning Center’s Pillars Café Transformation project.

Life Learning Center’s mission is to deliver a holistic, integrated continuum of education and care to help “at-risk” citizens step up to their highest potential. Their vision is to build a caring and serving community by helping people learn, secure, and sustain a better way of living through gainful employment. Candidates participate in a 12-week educational continuum, which delivers the center’s trademarked, customized curriculum. Critical expenses like childcare, mental and physical health maintenance, and even meals can be impossible for candidates to afford during this time in their lives.

To assist in their learning process, LLC eliminates barriers by offering such things as on-site childcare, fitness programs, and free meals as Candidates undergo the program. The people served by Life Learning Center become healthier, happier, and more productive individuals working to change their future.

In 2021, 71% of Life Learning Center Candidates reported $0 monthly income at program onset imposing barriers that make day-to-day activities exceptionally challenging. Expenses such as transportation, childcare, clothing, medical needs, and even food are often unaffordable to Candidates during this period of financial instability.

In response, Life Learning Center eliminates these barriers through resources such as their on-site kitchen, The Pillars Café. Candidates and Members are offered cost-free meals and take-home food boxes Monday-Saturday. Combating the internal question of “how am I going to eat today?” not only eliminates food insecurity but allows Candidates to address challenges beyond their basic needs.

Funding through this Impact 100 grant will support critical enhancements to Life Learning Center’s Pillars Café. In 2021, Pillars Café served over 10,000 meals, with 100% of Life Learning Center Candidates utilizing the free meal program.

With Impact 100 funding, LLC will not only be able to install or improve the kitchen, but also augment kitchen staff to support preparation, cooking, and serving of meals Monday-Saturday.

Life Learning Center has been poised to launch catering, culinary, and general hospitality training as an expansion of their existing education curriculum; they simply needed the financial support to establish it. With the expansion of the kitchen in place, Life Learning Center will implement small-scale catering services for on-site events to reduce associated food cost and eliminate outsourcing.

Candidates in the transformational skills program will have the opportunity to participate in culinary and hospitality trainings supplementing the existing education curriculum. In turn, Candidates will be better equipped to address the skills gap and labor shortage within these high-demand industries, while bridging the workforce needs of many LLC employer partners.

To learn more about Impact 100, visit www.impact100.org.


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