What’s your favourite thing about food?
I love my job, and I’ve always loved food. I love the smell of fragrant aromatics; I love the bustling kitchen and turning raw ingredients into plates of delight.
But what I love the most about food is its ability to bring people together.
Regardless of our differences, our skin colour, or the languages we speak, at the dining table, we are all eating as one. This is exactly what we do at Directions. Every night, our kitchen staff put on aprons and cook up hot, hearty meals for the youth coming through our doors.
On one particular evening, I made Nashville fried chicken. It has always been a crowd favourite here at DYS – but there was one youth I wasn’t sure was enjoying it.
This youth is relatively new to our program, but he had been coming to the kitchen almost every night recently. In typical teen fashion, every time I tried to open up a conversation, he gave me one-word answers.
“How was your day?”
“Good.”
“How are you doing?”
“Fine.”
However, that Nashville fried chicken night, something in him changed.
He came up to me after his meal. “Thank you so much!” he said, “that was one of the best dinners I’ve ever had… EVER!” A door opened. Now we talk regularly and have even been able to connect him to some housing supports.
Every year, Directions supports more than 1,000 youth. These are all marginalized young people at risk of homelessness, facing barriers, and with little to no support. But when they come and sit at our table and eat the meals we create for them, they can just be themselves, be teenagers. More than the food, this is what I love about the work I do.
These youth are our neighbours, and I think of them as part of my community.
My job isn’t just a job; it’s community care. This program isn’t just about hot meals; it’s about the people eating them. I started at Directions Youth Services earlier this year and I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s my dream job. I picked up my life and moved back to Vancouver to accept this position. When that youth came up and told me the Nashville fried chicken was one of the best meals he’s ever eaten? Moments like that are why I’m here.
I run the food program responsively and responsibly. What I mean is that when I find out youth like something, I try to adapt to it. If there’s an uptick in tea-drinkers, I keep more tea around. If they’re having fun with me exploring new flavours, I get more experimental for them. I’m always featuring a range of dishes from different cultures. It’s part of the dignity piece: nobody wants to eat a cold peanut butter sandwich every day. Yes, these kids are hungry and need help, but they deserve more: they deserve to be treated like people.
With the grocery price inflation, our kitchen is feeling the pinch. Working with our local food banks, we creatively use what we have. We turn expiring milk into cheese, aging fruit into delicious jams. I pickle foods, a lot. I’m constantly trying to find ways to use what we have and reduce waste in our kitchen.
Despite my efforts to stretch the budget as far as possible, we still need some extra support. The Food Program brings in youth who are at least experiencing food insecurity. They come for the breakfasts, pantry items, snacks, and hot dinners – and when they do, we get the chance to talk with them. This gives us the opportunity to find out what else they might need, when they feel comfortable sharing, and we can connect them with other supports: housing supports, 2SLGBTQIA+ programming, medical providers, counsellors, job training, and more.
This is why we say: entry point programs open doors.
The Food Program brings youth to the Directions Drop-In and it opens the door for opportunities for them.
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