Luci Poree has tasty plans for her future. She’s picturing a food truck, home cooked meals, soul food … and being open all night instead of all day.

“Emergency responders like police, firefighters, doctors, and nurses work late night shifts and have a hard time finding good meals at that time,” she explained. She plans to call her truck Meal Deals on Wheels and cook up chicken, tacos, burgers, and Sunday dinners like pot roast, sweet potatoes, collard greens with smoked turkey, and macaroni and cheese.

Luci is a student at Common Table, the culinary arts job training program at Catholic Charities of Louisville. When she completes the 8-week curriculum she will have earned 8 credit hours at Jefferson Community and Technical College, where she plans to complete her associate’s degree in culinary arts. From there she hopes to open a catering business that will grow into her food truck located near the medical district in downtown Louisville.

Luci came to Common Table after being encouraged to attend by Family Scholar House, where she lives with her two children, Eli, 8, and Royalty, 1. She chose Common Table because it is hands-on rather than online, but also because she grew up cooking with her mom and grandma and knows that “people enjoy eating my food.”

Just a few weeks into the program, Luci is already surprised by what she’s learning, like how to properly and safely store foods. By the time she graduates she will have earned her food manager’s certification, mastered knife skills, created recipes, and learned business skills as well.

Right now, she’s also trying her hand at foods she doesn’t even like. When she participated in a cooking challenge where she prepared a dish from mystery ingredients, it turns out her main mystery ingredient was portabella mushrooms, and “I don’t like mushrooms.” But she whipped up some stuffing to fill those mushroom caps and “they came back pretty good.” Did she like them? “I liked the stuffing.”

With help from chefs at Common Table, Luci created the recipe for the vegetable rice soup served up this week in the program’s popular soup and bread subscription, a social enterprise that generates funds to pay for students’ tuition.

As much as Luci appreciates learning culinary job skills, what she loves about Common Table is, “it’s like a family there. If you need something or you need to talk to someone, there’s somebody there for you.” When Luci’s one-year-old was in and out of the hospital recently, she got calls and texts from the chefs and program director. “It just felt so good to know that I had somebody. It seems like they cared and that they cared about, you know, not just the program, but about me.”

Luci’s 8-year-old son, Eli, is proud of his mom for going to school and, “tells everybody that his mama is a chef,” Luci laughed. “He tells me every day that he loves me and he loves my food.”

Luci said she’s grateful for everything she’s learning and gaining from Common Table and other resources she’s receiving from Catholic Charities. “Just having people who are with me and showing me the way, I’m determined to get this done right,” she said. “I’m here for good.”