Trainees at Through The Kitchen Door make pupusas.

“We teach more than cooking.”

Much of what happens at Through The Kitchen Door takes place over a stove or mixing bowl.  But this Washington, D.C.-based program is also about learning skills that can be taken outside of the kitchen and into the rest of the community.

Through The Kitchen Door, International uses food as the fuel for community economic development and family stability.  Trainees at TTKD start off in a 15-hour program that focuses on economical and nutritious cooking on a low-income budget because “healthy eating is part of healthy living.”  Graduates can receive additional professional training through the Earning While Learning program where trainees are paid as they learn how to work in a commercial kitchen.

After learning the skills they need in the training program, trainees get real world experience through TTKD’s catering service.  The trainees cook for and serve at receptions, banquets, weddings, parties and corporate and community events.  The money earned through the catering arm of TTKD funds the Earning While Learning program.

Recently, members of The Women’s Foundation’s Washington 100 leadership network had the opportunity to meet the co-founders, deputy director and students of TTKD.  After everyone learned how to make pupusas — a Salvadoran dish — Norma, one of the trainees, explained how she got involved with Through The Kitchen Door.

“I came to the U.S. a year ago from Ecuador,” she said through an interpreter.  “I had difficulty with the language so it was hard to get engaged.  I found out about Through The Kitchen Door at my son’s school.”

Magali, also from Ecuador, said that her experience “has been very enriching and empowering.  Not only have I learned to make recipes, but I’ve learned how to make the most out of the kitchen and use healthy food. “

Now, Magali is working with TTKD to establish a similar program for women in Ecuador.

Washington 100 members learned that the program is about more than learning to cook.  It’s about helping the clients – most of whom are immigrant women – learn how to interact with the world, become leaders in their community and guide their families in healthy living.

“To see them grow as leaders and professionals is what I’m most proud of,” co-founder Liesel Flashenberg told the Washington 100 over lunch with TTKD’s staff and clients.

For more information on Through The Kitchen Door, including programmatic and catering services, please click here.