ou could easily pick up a Beautiful Day granola bar and never think about where it came from. Maybe you’re in Urban Greens, the West End co-op, and you spot a square-shaped package on the rack. Bourbon pecan? Sounds tasty! Salted mango? Even better! You buy it, rip it open, and bite into that rich tile of granola. Now that is a good snack.
Unless you look closely at the wrapper, you’ll miss the note: “Beautiful Day is a 501(c)3 nonprofit providing job training to refugees.” Indeed, about 600 such refugees have trained at Beautiful Day headquarters, currently located on Benefit Street and run by Saad Awad, Beautiful Day’s production and training manager.
Awad oversees a small industrial kitchen, where trainees bake and process the granola, producing about 2,400 bars each day. The refugees come from all over the world and are matched through local humanitarian organizations; many arrive knowing little to no English, and the kitchen becomes a place to hone skills, practice their new language, and learn how to live independently in the United States. “Refugees don’t have a lot of confidence,” says Awad. “You don’t have anything.”
“Here, you can focus on the English part of it,” continues Awad, a good-humored man who grew up in Syria and came to the US in 2005. Awad himself speaks masterful English, having studied at a private school in his home country. He also owned his own restaurant in Narragansett for many years, until the COVID lockdown forced him to close. Awad didn’t survive a refugee camp, like many of his apprentices, but as an immigrant with a bumpy arrival, he relates to their fish-out-of-water experiences. “I started meeting people, and I could see how much they needed help. I immediately started to fit in here.”
Beautiful Day was founded in 2008 by Keith Cooper, who had worked previously with refugees at the International Institute of Rhode Island (now known as Dorcas International). Today, the program trains small groups of adults for four months and larger groups of youth (ages 15-19) for nine months. Each participant receives a cell phone and life-skills instruction, such as how to ride the bus. Some 80 percent of trainees have secured jobs after completing the program.
The non-profit is best known for its granola, but Beautiful Day also produced 575 bags of coffee and 5,750 containers of hummus last year. Of the 71 trainees who completed the training during that time, 26 enrolled in other educational institutions. The organization has been so successful that leadership is now seeking a bigger space to handle larger workflows.
Every Tuesday evening, Beautiful Day hosts a community dinner in their offices. Trainees eat together around a large table, along with staff members and anyone else who wants to join in. Conversation is free-form and unfolds in many languages, though English is the lingua franca and discussions tend to revolve around food. Trainees prepare dishes and are asked to describe them. What starts as small talk often leads shy refugees to share details about their lives.
In a way, the camaraderie seems as impactful as practical instruction. Past trainees have represented 14 nationalities and 20 ethnicities; it’s common for them to have spent years, if not decades, sequestered in refugee camps. In the safety of the kitchen, participants may recall stories of deprivation, persecution, and imprisonment. “People open up,” says Awad. “They learn to trust. We hear a lot of stories.”
How much do you know about human displacement and resettlement in the world? To encourage awareness, Beautiful Day offers a 10-percent discount on your next order if you take their online quiz about the global refugee crisis. Learn more at BeautifulDayRI.org
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here