Staff Spotlight: Matt

Meet Matt! Matt recently joined our team as Culinary Operations Manager for our Omaha Veteran’s Campus. Having served as a chef and caterer for many local restaurants and hotels, this is Matt’s first experience working in a nonprofit. “This is such a humbling challenge,” says Matt, “and honestly it can be even more difficult than working in a high-end restaurant or catering for several hundred people just because of the limitations of working with donated food and having limited space and budget.”

Matt has several goals as he works towards organizing our Veteran’s Campus kitchen, one of which is expanding the culinary horizons of both the veterans and staff. “The residents are very “meat and potatoes,” says Matt, “and I think sometimes they surprise themselves when they are willing to try new things.” Matt also hopes to encourage and elevate the work of his assistants in the kitchen. “When I got here, one of the guys was just setting up the salad bar and cleaning. Now he’s become my breakfast and lunch cook,” he says. “It’s important to give them ownership.”

Describing himself as persistent, loyal, and compassionate, Matt made the change from for-profit cooking because he wanted his work to have more of an impact on the community. “People talk about things being cooked with love,” says Matt, “and that’s not just something you say. You can really tell by the quality of the food whether the cook or baker loves what they’re doing and the people they’re doing it for. I’m grateful to be in a place where my cooking has a purpose beyond generating revenue, and the love I pour into my cooking can have an impact on people who are in a hard place.”

In his spare time, Matt enjoys hanging out with his dog, camping, and gardening. Matt is proud of the relationships he’s cultivated through cooking, as well as his drive for excellence. At New Visions, we can already see how Matt’s strong relational skills and striving for excellence is playing out among our veteran community. We are grateful for Matt’s leadership and for the love he’s putting into every bite for our veterans experiencing homelessness.