Pontiac homeless shelter to unveil new kitchen

One of the largest and oldest homeless shelters in southeast Michigan is celebrating the opening of a new kitchen to help better serve the community.Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. Tuesday for the new kitchen. The homeless shelter renovated the kitchen with a $50,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation.Grace Centers of Hope chief executive Kent Clark says the new kitchen will allow the shelter to prepare more than 150,000 meals each year. The shelter currently feeds between 150 and 200 homeless men, women and children each day.The kitchen, which hasn't been remodeled in more than 20 years, has received new appliances including a convection oven and gas range with burners.
Videtti's mother, Carly Videtti, says that the lessons have given her daughter independence in the kitchen, a skill set she may be able to use one day to get a job.Not just any chef could have accomplished this, she said."It's very hard to find someone who's willing to work with these kids, who has the patience," Carly Videtti said. "He's very soothing and very kind. He can't find anything wrong with the kids, which is great."Above all, Scheinzeit now prizes his flexibility. He can be there for friends who need him. He can spend time sketching out the perfect dinner party.Chocolate: Out Of The Box, Into The Frying Pan.He misses the financial stability, but "I don't miss the hours, I don't miss the heat in the kitchen and I do not miss that 80-hour work week where all you do is just work every day — couldn't go to funerals, couldn't go to parties."
A longtime regular customer, Bill Kuipers of Haskell, can see the transformation in Scheinzeit. "You could tell he had a lot on his mind" when the restaurant closed. Now, "he seems so at peace.""Anyone can make good food. But what Joel brings is Joel. His passion, his enthusiasm … there are great restaurants all over the place but it is such a treat to find that kind of soul."What does Scheinzeit say now about running a restaurant? It turns out he got that question while speaking at a junior high career day recently."I told them how great it is," he says earnestly. "It's a great way to express your creativity and your emotions and your feelings. It's a great way to give love to people. It's a great way to just interact with society and the community, and do good things and do what you believe in."