KEY TAKEAWAYS: Café Hope received a $10,000 grant from the Jacques Pépin Foundation. The Gretna nonprofit was one of 10 organizations nationwide selected for Summer 2026 funding. The organization provides paid culinary and life-skills training through a 12-week workforce development program. Since 2010, Café Hope has served more than 750 participants and rebuilt following Hurricane Ida.   West Bank nonprofit Café Hope has received a $10,000 grant from the Jacques Pépin Foundation to support its culinary workforce development program for young adults, the organizations announced. Café Hope was one of 10 organizations nationwide selected to receive a Summer 2026 community-based culinary arts training grant from the foundation. In addition to the funding, the Gretna-based nonprofit will receive Jacques Pépin Foundation-branded aprons for its students and a group membership to the organization. Founded in 2010, Café Hope provides paid restaurant and life-skills training for opportunity youth through a 12-week workforce development program. The nonprofit operates a teaching kitchen, restaurant, coffee shop and catering business in Gretna and says it has served more than 750 participants. The organization rebuilt its operations following Hurricane Ida. The Jacques Pépin Foundation said its grant program supports nonprofit culinary training organizations that help people facing barriers to employment develop workforce skills and career opportunities through food service education. “The JPF’s mission is realized in part by supporting programs that create opportunities through culinary training, and giving grants to these important, impressive, local organizations,” said Rollie Wesen, executive director of the Jacques Pépin Foundation. “Café Hope exemplifies the JPF’s commitment to expanding access to high-quality culinary education for people who have historically been excluded from opportunity. Café Hope proves that meaningful workforce training transforms lives. We are especially proud to support a program that removes real barriers, like transportation and geography, by serving Westbank young adults where they live, and by offering a hands-on 12-week curriculum across the restaurant, café, and catering options that prepare students for a wide range of culinary careers.” Café Hope Executive Director Luis Arocha said the grant recognizes the organization’s efforts to help young adults build careers in the hospitality industry. “Every day, we have the privilege of watching young people discover talents they didn’t know they had and confidence they didn’t think was possible,” Arocha said. “To have that work recognized by the Jacques Pépin Foundation is incredibly meaningful. This grant is more than financial support—it is an investment in our young people and in what’s possible when they’re given opportunity, encouragement, and someone who believes in them.” The Jacques Pépin Foundation was established in 2016 and began awarding grants to community-based culinary training organizations in 2019. According to the foundation, it has distributed more than $2 million to more than 100 nonprofit workforce training programs over the past seven years. Other Summer 2026 grant recipients include organizations in Tennessee, California, Nebraska, Massachusetts, Georgia, West Virginia, Arizona and Texas. ...read more read less