One of New York City’s greatest qualities is that it attracts people from every corner of the globe, who bravely cross oceans and continents for opportunity, security, and connection. That’s all Eskarli, an asylum seeker from Venezuela, wanted for herself and her daughters when she came to the United States last year. When she arrived, Hot Bread Kitchen was here to help her build a home.
A successful food entrepreneur, Eskarli made the heartbreaking decision to leave her country after the government seized her restaurant, forcing her to shut down. “I decided to come to New York because I saw that there was hope for more opportunities there, educational opportunities for my children and economic opportunities for me,” she shared.
When they arrived, Eskarli and her girls had no other family in New York and spoke almost no English. One of our community partners told her about Culinary Career Pathways for New New Yorkers, Hot Bread Kitchen’s newest program offering, which supports asylum seekers and recent immigrants in finding a home in the food industry. Eskarli thrived in the 6-week culinary training, taught bilingually in Spanish and English, and received intensive English language support.
Just one week after graduating, Eskarli was interviewed and hired at the renowned Casa Cipriani. She demonstrated such impressive skill in her first 36 hours on the job that she was immediately promoted from prep cook to the line as garde manger.
“My experience at Hot Bread Kitchen was excellent. Really, I feel like a different person than in Venezuela. Here in New York, we are all equals and can pursue these opportunities.”
Eskarli is one of over 210,000 recent asylum seekers who left everything she knew to come to NYC and build a better life. Hot Bread Kitchen is committed to welcoming new immigrants with the resources they need to find stability and contribute to New York City’s economy. Supporting asylum seekers is at the heart of our mission to provide economic opportunity and empowerment for all New Yorkers, no matter whether they are native or not.
