Inspiration Corporation, Jesus, and Chef Corey partner for culinary career success!
Creation Date: 05/14/2026
Program Details
Jesus Rosario completed the foodservice training and employment program at Inspiration Kitchens, supported by Job Training and Economic Development (JTED), in 2025. The first four weeks of training include culinary foundations, career exploration, and connections to resources. Weeks 5-8 add work-based learning in the form of wage-paid Transitional Jobs working in catering and restaurant operations at Inspiration Kitchens' social enterprise restaurant in East Garfield Park.
During weeks 9-12, Jesus was placed in a Transitional Job at the Burnham Park Yacht Club, and a few weeks later, the placement turned into a job. “To be 100% honest, I was expecting to finish the two-week internship and then just be at square one—like, OK, now it’s time to look for a job,” Rosario said.
Rosario is working as a line cook at Burnham Park Yacht Club under executive Chef Corey Rice, whose resume includes several TV appearances. “I wasn’t familiar with Chef Corey until I got there, but I did my due diligence—I went, ‘holy cow, he was on ‘Chopped!’” Rosario said with a laugh, also noting his boss’s 2016 “MasterChef” Season 7 appearance representing Chicago’s West Englewood neighborhood.
Rice said Rosario, 28, is a “special talent.” He often observes Rosario in the kitchen after hours, practicing knife skills or going over new recipes for the menu’s short rib bourguignon or lobster pot pie. Rosario said he embraces smaller, yet essential tasks such as peeling potatoes, plucking cilantro leaves, or practicing how to swipe sauce on a plate. “He’s still a little green, as we like to say in the kitchen, but his work and dedication and the effort that he puts in day in and day out … how he’s learned to be innovative. He has that gift,” Rice said. “That’s what I like to see come out of the program. Those who are hungry, not just to cook, but making sure that not only are we putting something out that’s good on a plate, but it’s also good from the heart. Because that’s how we feed people.”
At the private club, Rice has employed four students over the past three years of his partnership with Inspiration Corporation. The social enterprise teaching restaurant has several partners across the city, including Rush University Medical Center and Eataly Chicago, which work with employment specialists at the nonprofit to help students find work. The demand for culinary professionals is high in the Chicago area and is forecast to grow in the coming years.