I've been going to a weekly CHOW meeting for more than five years now, from close to the day that CHOW started in 2018. I am not directly IN the food, cooking, or hospitality trade, but for 40 years I've written about restaurants, cooking, food, wine & food, chefs and their work, food producers, and the like. I know how lives are lived in these fields. I know their stresses and strains, their successes and their failures. And I know that talking—together—about life lived and work worked in these fields helps those of us at CHOW meetings to get through those lives and that work. All for free. All it costs me is what I chip in as my help or insight. What I get back is much, much more.
I am a restaurant owner in Boulder and have been endlessly impressed with the work and dedication of this organization. They have put together tools and resources for a demographic of hard working industry pros that too often disproportionately struggle with addictions, depression and anxiety. Because their approach is specific to this demographic, those who they help feel heard and understood, so the results are incredibly impactful. The Denver/Boulder community is lucky to have CHOW!
I loved seeing the CHOW booth at Advocates for Recovery's Rally for Recovery event in Denver, CO over this past weekend. I feel the more they are out there letting people in recovery know this is a resource for people in the food service industry, the more they will grow as Advocates for Recovery has grown over the past 20 years. It takes time to get the word out, but I have referred at least one client over the past year and hope to refer many more to find hope and understanding with the services of support that CHOW offers.
CHOW has been an incredible resource to my hospitality staff members and to me as a business owner. In an industry notoriously difficult on mental health and wellness, it's crucial to have the tools available to support co-workers in need and CHOW provides those tools in a way that's easy to communicate and easy for the staff to understand. It's not an over statement to say that they are life savers!
A unique non-profit serving those that are often overlooked, overworked, and not genuinely supported.
I cannot state enough how supportive the meetings they offer are and how the resources they provide help with are super helpful as well.
Thanks CHOW.
CHOW provides hospitality workers a safe space, free of judgment, for folks to work on mental health and find paths to happiness and fulfillment in their lives. Erin is positive, smart and all around wonderful in her approach with other humans who may be struggling, and their resources are so necessary. Thanks for being here for us CHOW!