Jesse had actually worked in local restaurant kitchens with John but Jessica’s background was more front of the house, server, baking, catering and management. The two make a perfect team. “I kind of explain it like we're doing caterings all day,” she smiles. “Also we're cooking for people who need nutrition and love, not just coming out for dinner. Our kitchen is definitely full of high love, high carb, high fat meals, because we're feeding people who have been on the streets.” Pearson goes on to explain that the menu has been evolving to adjust to the needs of people coming in with a variety of nutrition needs reflective of the new drugs on the street.

“It’s not just about nutrition. It's about gathering the kitchen. It's about having, I mean, we've always been a kitchen family. I'm very hyper vigilant already, so I watch a lot. If I see somebody having a hard time, I'm going to make sure that the right people find out so that problem can be addressed. I think we're really a wraparound program here, where all staff is responsible for everyone having the safest and most appropriate recovery that they need because everybody recovers different, and that was John's thing. Also here, everybody gets different kinds of attention because we are a recovery program,” she explains.

Pearson actually had years of preparation for this role growing up in a house full of foster youth that her mom took in regularly. "She had probably four to six kids all the time," Pearson remembers. The caring and nurturing and ability to be nonjudgmental come naturally to her. Her mother also taught her how to make holidays special and Pearson has brought that same kind of love to Waterfront by using holidays to demonstrate healthy ways to celebrate. “I make sure every holiday has something special. The big ones, like Easter, Christmas, they get gifts or Easter baskets. I leave them outside their room so they have that feeling first thing in the morning,” she says. “Jessie and I do barbecues on Fridays during the summer to again, learn to hang out, have food, play some music. I just think giving some of that encouragement will help them on the outside . . . if they have some memory of people caring,” she says noting that has always been part of her life. “I also want them to know that they're completely surrounded by us here, and that there are people who care about them regardless of everything that they have maybe done in their life that they feel bad about. So I try to give the unconditional caring here. One of the things I think that I'm gifted with is that I don't know a lot of these people from the streets. I don't know a lot of people from the different kind of communities that they came from. I have no prior judgment. I have no knowledge, so I can just take you for the person you are today, and care for you that way. I try to do that by giving them things that they might not have gotten either as a child, as an adult, or haven't been able to give their own kids or don't know how to celebrate without partying, which is really common.”

"We’ve been through a lot. People assume that our relationship has been easy because we have been together so long, which is absolutely not true. We've done a lot of things in our lives that were complicated that we had to get through together but we're just very lucky . . . and we also talk about our stuff. If it comes up, we communicate a lot. If there's a problem, we deal with it and we don't bury it because we have to work together and we have to live together.

With restaurant management experience, Pearson understood what needs to happen overall but "This was my first commercial kitchen," she shares. Jesse does the menu planning but they discuss and plan and shop together. They focus on comfort food and input from the clients. But we also have to think about the fact that we have some people in our kitchen that are learning to cook. They're from programs. They're a part of who we hire, people from programs. After six months, graduates of similar programs can apply to work in the Waterfront kitchen where the Pearsons train and love and support them in the next part of their journey.

Like other staff members at Waterfront, Pearson shares the personal connection and in-house support network. “What we do here is really hard. It's mind bending. Sometimes it's heartbreaking. Sometimes it takes a lot out of you, even if even just in the kitchen. And I'm not doing the groups. It’s more than most jobs. And so we have to be connected. We have to, you know, care about each other, give hugs, snacks, love each other, remember each other's kids are having a hard week, whatever. And that's what we really do here. Dr B has always been a big mom group person here, but yeah, our counselors, even up to Jamaica, who is our Chief Operations Officer . . . I can go to Jamaica anytime if I need to. I can go to Jeremy (ED) anytime if I need to. And that means that we're cared about, and that's part of why we stay, because we are cared about. If it was a job that didn't care about us, I wouldn't be able to stay because it is really emotionally draining some weeks. I guess if I'd gone to college, I probably would be a counselor, or a therapist, but that wasn't in my cards. So, yeah, I believe in giving back because that's the only way to make us all come together. This is why we're all here, because these people need community to help them get back to their lives . . . and community.

“We can all look at the streets and say that there are things that need to change and bitch about it and complain about it but if I'm not going to do anything about it, then what am I going to do? So this is what I can do to help our area get healthier. Jesse could be at any kitchen. I could be working almost anywhere. But we do this because giving back can make a difference. And we do it for John. Whenever I get frustrated, I think about John . . . oh, John, right John. Love you, John,” she smiles. A special kitchen indeed!