Easterseals launches teaching kitchen for those with disabilities

Easterseals PORT Health, a provider of disability and mental health services, is launching the “Culinary Connections” service line with a new teaching kitchen in Virginia Beach.

Construction has just wrapped on the facility at 3509 Virginia Beach Blvd., inside the Autism Resource Center.

The kitchen will host cooking classes for a variety of students to learn culinary skills, increase their nutritional literacy and spend time socializing and building connections with peers.

The kitchen as a playground is the theme for “Cooking with Friends” classes for children ages 5 to 9 to explore the smells, tastes and gadgets of the kitchen while they create a food masterpiece.

The Chartway Promise Foundation for funding three rounds, the first beginning in June.

For adults wishing to gain more kitchen-based skills, Easterseals offers the “Recipe for Independence” class. Through eight sessions, students practice basic culinary skills such as cracking an egg, browning meat or grating cheese along with kitchen sanitation, safety and nutrition.

Unlike traditional cooking classes, students are provided with an array of supports and tools to individualize their learning. The Hampton Roads Community Foundation — Jennifer Lynn Gray Fund has sponsored the first two rounds of Recipe for Independence.

A third offering, culinary therapy, blends traditional talk therapy with cooking classes. Participants are invited into a familiar environment to work with food while learning coping techniques to handle some of life’s challenges. The program will offer culinary therapy to youth living in foster care and military connected individuals living in Hampton Roads.

For more information or to get involved, visit eastersealsucp.com/culinary-connections.