CHEF BRIAN

Brian has been a friend of Dream Streets since before the beginning. Ryan, our Community Counselor, met Brian fifteen years ago when he would come to CrossPoint Church for benevolence assistance. Brian would never ask for more help than he needed and was always willing to work for what he was given, never wanting simply a handout. Once the Dream Center opened, the staff would occasionally see Brian and help him however needed; sometimes including giving tough love and guidance.

Fast forward... Brian had always been belittled and told what he couldn't do because of his learning disability but our Job Readiness Program Manager, Sandrea, saw something in Brian and knew he could be successful. Brian joined our first cohort of the program, always showing up a couple hours early to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He excelled in the kitchen and gave his best effort at every classroom assignment he was given. When it was time for the ServSafe Certification practice test, he failed it on his first attempt. He was extremely upset, but Sandrea encouraged him and reminded him that he wasn’t in it alone. Sandrea worked with Brian and all of his classmates from that point forward until the actual test came.

The day Sandrea got their scores back she got to deliver the best news– every single person in the class passed with flying colors, including Brian. He fell on the floor and started crying happy tears when he heard the news saying, “This is the first time I’ve passed anything. No one has ever believed I could do something like this. Thank you!”.

Brian now has his National ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification and

has been working hard at his internship since July with one of Dream Streets’

longest-running partners, the Nashville Food Project. Recently, Brian has been

offered a paid position and got to go to the bank with Sandrea to open his very

first bank account. Sandrea has also been working with him to get his drivers’

license, and he’s even had the opportunity to work alongside our Chef, Sterling

Wright, in the community.

We know the sky's the limit for Brian and are looking

forward to seeing him succeed!