Team found employee through culinary reentry program
Current Custody to Community Reentry Program (CCTRP) participant Jennifer Martinez has received a full-time job offer with the San Diego Padres. The opportunity came after she graduated from culinary apprenticeship through Kitchens for Good (KFG).
San Diego-based KFG provides participants from CDCR’s reentry programs an opportunity to learn culinary skills and specialized training in professional kitchens. KFG partners with employers like Petco Park throughout San Diego County for internship opportunities. When Martinez was placed at Petco Park in July 2022 she absorbed all the new skills she learned. She also found a passion for the culinary arts.
Martinez officially graduated from the KFG internship on March 6. She signed on with the San Diego Padres as a full-time employee on March 6, 2023.
“This program gave me the confidence to go back into the community,” Martinez said. The support that I got from this program gave me what I needed. I was incarcerated for eight years – I am a new person. I took these groups serious. Sadly to say, but prison saved my life.”
Padres job just one of many CCTRP opportunities
KFG is one of the many partners CCTRP-San Diego collaborates with to successfully transition the incarcerated population safely back into our communities.
The CCTRP allows eligible female individuals committed to state prison to serve their sentence in the community in lieu of confinement in State prison and at the discretion of the Secretary. The CCTRP provides a range of rehabilitative services that assist with alcohol and drug recovery, employment, education, housing, family reunification, and social support.
By Terri Hardy, Public Information Officer II
Office of Public and Employee Communications