LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas restaurant is giving at-risk teens something many thought they would never have: a second chance.
Scarlet Turner said when she got sober at 15, she wasn’t sure where her life was headed. But Blooming Bistro saw something different — potential. Now she’s helping others find theirs.
“When I first got sober when I was 15, I thought I was done,” Turner said. “I didn’t have hope for anything. I didn’t want to go to high school.”
At 15, Turner thought her life was over. Now at 18, she is putting the finishing touches on charcuterie boards at the restaurant.
Turner is one of many at-risk youth in Southern Nevada — kids battling addiction, ageing out of foster care and searching for a path forward.
Restaurant opens with mission to help youth
Blooming Bistro opened earlier this year with a mission to help these teens.
“I’ve been in recovery since I was 15 years old,” Turner said.
When asked how she navigated recovery at such a young age, Turner said she wasn’t alone.
“I went to Mission and I did intake there and I had to go to AA twice a week until I graduated, so I wasn’t alone,” she said.
Mission High School connected Turner to the restaurant, where she learned the ins and outs of the hospitality and food industry.
“Honestly didn’t really have a lot of dreams and goals,” Turner said.
Now her goals are supported by her mentor Chef James Brown.
“Working with kids you can’t yell and scream. You have to push people up hill,” Brown said. “It’s important that you move them along at their own pace too.”
From student to mentor
Turner was part of the first group of at-risk youth who got training at Blooming Bistro. Now she’s going to mentor a new group as someone who was once in their shoes. The group will be those ageing out of foster care from St. Jude’s Ranch for Children.
Christina Vela is the CEO of St. Jude’s Ranch for Children.
“It’s a great circle of learning and providing,” Vela said. “I think for so many of the young people, I don’t think they expected to earn that paycheck and that confidence of earning that paycheck.”
But it’s more than a paycheck, it’s an opening they never thought was possible.
“Being here gave me new dreams and goals,” Turner said.
Aside from working at the bistro, Turner is also studying marketing at UNLV.
The next group will start training under Turner in a few weeks. Blooming Bistro is offering charcuterie boards for $125. All proceeds will help St. Jude’s Ranch for Children and the workforce program at the restaurant.
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