Chew on This: CHEFS

As anyone who has been down on her luck knows, it can be hard to brush off the dust and move forward. This is especially the case with homelessness, which becomes its own chicken-and-egg problem: How do you get a home without a job, and a job without a home?

Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco established CHEFS (Conquering Homelessness through Employment in Food Service) to give a taste of the culinary world to the homeless in San Francisco, helping them to pull together the ingredients for better lives.

Program participants learn the basics of cooking, nutrition, menu planning and teamwork within busy restaurants' kitchens, and many intern at some of the city's finest restaurants, like NOPA. Instructors include Ryan Farr of the deliriously addictive 4505 chicharrones fame.

And the statistics are impressive: 80 percent of graduates find a place to live, and move on to lives that help them better support themselves and their families.

In a promotional video, a program employee recalls what it's like to run into former participants who made good: "People walk up and say 'Miss Harrison, you remember me?... I have my own place. I've gone back to school.' It doesn't happen every so often. It happens all the time."