Dear FareStart Supporters, 
I’m taking a short pause in a very busy time to reflect and share with you a little perspective on the joys – and the challenges – of FareStart during our current phase of reopening.
I’m sure you’ve felt some of that FareStart joy yourself if you’re reading this – via our students’ stories of success, at an event that showcased our work, or through the community we strive to create. And we are feeling it daily as students come back into our kitchens for our newly reopening businesses. This is a special organization with a deeply important mission, one that I’ve been so very proud to lead for the last 17 months during this critical turning point.
I’m equally sure that some of you have wondered about our path in the past several years, while our training programs were disrupted and many of our businesses remained closed.
As we celebrate the reopening of the FareStart Restaurant (please come join us for breakfast and lunch!), I want to be sure we acknowledge the difficulties brought on by the pandemic and its aftermath in carrying out that mission – including the impacts on our staff and students of so many tumultuous changes – as well as the extremely complicated but rewarding work of rebuilding. And I want to acknowledge with deep gratitude that our community has stuck with us, cheered us on, and continued to support the mission. FareStart wouldn’t still exist today without that – without you.
FareStart’s model is an elegant and simple one in abstract – social enterprise businesses that provide both job training for overcoming barriers to employment, as well as revenue to support that special mission. In its actual implementation, it requires countless intricate practices and interdependencies and strong community partnerships to be able to offer the high-quality value proposition that we provide to our students and to our community. Workforce development is a team effort, and with an individualized approach, supported by every participant, be they student, staff, volunteer or donor. It has taken much time and great effort to rebuild to this point – and it is not done yet! We have now taken a big step forward to return to the balanced business and mission model that we have relied upon for nearly 30 years – the model that allows us to invest in students, transform lives, and grow our impact year over year.
Please join us in celebrating how far we have come – over FareStart’s 30+ year history… and just in the last year! Our Gala Auction is around the corner on October 13, and our restaurant awaits you for breakfast, lunch, private catered events or a Guest Chef Night. Your table awaits, and we look forward to welcoming you back!
With deep appreciation for your part in the FareStart story,
Patrick D’Amelio
CEO
