A USF Sarasota-Manatee-sponsored program is helping veterans find new careers as professional chefs.
- Vet-2-Chef also sponsored by Goodwill
- 12-week program holds promise of a job opportunity at end
- More information? Visit Vets2Success on Facebook
Founded in 2014 by veteran Bryan Jacobs, Vet-2-Chef is also sponsored by Goodwill.
Jacobs can usually be found hard at work at the USF Sarasota-Manatee Culinary Innovation Lab in Lakewood Ranch, teaching other veterans how to become chefs.
Jacobs built the program around a simple desire.
"I want to train homeless, displaced vets, in culinary," said Jacobs.
Jacobs understands how hard it is to come back home after serving your country. After two deployments two in Iraq and serving six years in the military, he returned home to a life he didn't understand.
"When you go to join the military as a boy and you go to combat and become a man, things change," said Jacobs.
Jacobs said he fought addiction and depression alongside his brother Kevin, who also served. It was a battle Kevin Jacobs did not survive.
"[Kevin] felt in his heart that his life was done. May 28th, 2014, he ended it," Jacobs said.
His brother's death was a wakeup call for Jacobs. He returned to his roots, and to cooking, which he enjoyed as a kid.
After he completed culinary school, he founded Vet-2-Chef, which offers culinary training at no cost to veterans over a 12-week program and the promise of a job opportunity at the end.
Though he hasn't yet completed the program, veteran Beau Highland is already benefiting.
"Here I am now, this is lifting me to a better place and I have a job as a line cook in Sarasota, and there's only more doors opening," said Highland
Twenty-five other veterans have completed the Vet-2-Chef program. If you would like to know more, email Bryan Jacobs at Bryan@vets2success.org or follow them on Instagram and Facebook at Vets2Success.