BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 8, 2024--
Sodexo, the nation’s largest federal foodservice contractor, proudly announces the company’s partnership with Chef Andre Rush, former White House chef for multiple administrations, bestselling author, award-winning Olympic chef, and U.S. veteran among other accolades. Through this partnership, Sodexo will benefit from Chef Rush’s culinary expertise alongside his special interest in supporting servicemen and women’s mental and physical well-being – to innovate and elevate menus across Sodexo’s government services.
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“One of my primary goals – and something that’s been evident in both my journey in the military and as a chef – is making a meaningful impact,” said Chef Andre Rush. “Sodexo proudly serves servicewomen and men across the U.S. as the largest federal foodservice contractor. I’m thrilled to lend my expertise to Sodexo, ultimately touching lives – and notably those serving our country – from coast to coast.”
Touting significant military and culinary achievements – including training over 10,000 troops in culinary arts and serving as a combat trainer, qualifying over 1,000 service members and civilians in hand-to-hand combat – Chef Rush is a devout advocate for veterans’ well-being. This led to the launch of his nonprofit, 2222 Inc., in tandem with his various culinary ventures.
“It’s a privilege to partner with Chef Andre Rush, a truly iconic chef blending culinary excellence with experience in military service. Chef Rush's dedication extends beyond meeting physical needs; he holds a profound passion for mental health and well-being, which is especially crucial for those in service,” said Brett Ladd, CEO, Government, Sodexo U.S. “The partnership between Sodexo and Chef Rush exemplifies a shared goal of making a meaningful impact.”
Sodexo serves 160 military and U.S. Federal Government locations in 28 states. With a commitment to improving Quality of Life and making a positive impact, Sodexo creates solutions for everything from dining and nutrition to facilities management and rehabilitative services for U.S. government and military organizations.
About Sodexo North America
Sodexo North America is part of a global Fortune 500 company with a presence in 45 countries. Sodexo specializes in sustainable food service and valued experiences, in all 50 U.S. states, Canada, Puerto Rico and Guam, at every moment in life: learn, work, heal and play. Additionally, the company indirectly supports additional jobs through its annual purchases of goods and services from small to large businesses. Sodexo North America is committed to meeting the challenges of everyday life with a dual goal: to improve the quality of life of our employees and those we serve, and contribute to the economic, social, and environmental progress in the communities where we operate. Our purpose is to create a better everyday for everyone to build a better life for all.
Sodexo Partners with White House Chef and Army Combat Trainer Andre Rush to Provide 27M Meals Annually to Servicewomen and Men Nationwide (Photo: Business Wire)
CHICAGO (AP) — Set inside a once-dilapidated 1938 building on Chicago’s near West Side, a one-of-a-kind museum hopes to change the perception of public housing in America.
A former federal housing project that underwent a $17.5 million transformation, the National Public Housing Museum opens Friday and showcases recreated apartments from three different eras. It’s the brainchild of public housing residents who wanted to tell a more complete story about their lives, from the joys of living in tight-knit communities to the effects of racist housing policies.
“The biggest artifact in our collection is the building itself,” said Lisa Yun Lee, the museum’s executive director.
Remnants of a paint-chipped wall, with cracks and graffiti, greets visitors at the entrance. Original mailboxes with apartment numbers scrawled in marker are displayed near items belonging to Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who grew up in New York public housing. An outdoor garden is lined with decades-old animal statues, once the centerpiece of a Chicago public housing courtyard.
Museum organizers hope to revive such a gathering place and say the location in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood is important. The museum complex includes 15 new public housing apartments where residents will live. Next door is a city library branch that also has affordable housing units. A mixed-income development is under construction nearby.
“It’s a museum that says, ‘There are things that everybody deserves,’” said Sunny Fischer, a consultant for foundations, who grew up in public housing and is the museum board's chair.
Museum admission is free though guided tours cost money.
The museum's opening faced delays, due to fundraising challenges and different mayoral administrations with changing agendas. The building was given to the museum by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The $17.5 million price tag is a mix of private donations, including from foundations, and state and federal money.
Residents started planning the museum about 18 years ago as the nation’s third-largest city was in the midst of demolishing public housing high-rises. The ambitious and controversial improvement plan, which displaced thousands of families, included tearing down Cabrini-Green, an infamous housing project portrayed in the “Candyman” horror movies.
Residents didn’t want their stories to be wiped out with the towers. Among the original planners was activist Francine Washington.
The 69-year-old has lived in Chicago public housing almost her entire life. It’s where she raised a family and worked as a property manager and in food service. She serves on the museum’s board and hopes to help counteract stereotypes about public housing residents.
“Show them what we have accomplished, what we have done, what we have been through,” she said. “Even though we’re in public housing, we’re human beings. We want the same things in life that they want.”
One of the museum’s goals is to show how the racial makeup of public housing in Chicago and other places changed, largely due to racist housing authority practices. For instance, Black residents were concentrated in high-rises in segregated communities with few opportunities to move.
The restored apartments inside the former Jane Addams Homes building feature original artifacts donated by the families of former residents, including clothing and dishes. The 1930s apartment belonged to a Jewish family while one from the 1950s was an Italian family's home. The third, from the 1970s, was the childhood home of the Rev. Marshall Hatch, a well-known Black pastor and Chicago activist.
Museum organizers say they also were inspired by New York City’s Tenement Museum, which highlights preserved tenement apartments on the Lower East Side. But Chicago organizers say they took it a step further with a high-tech spin, including recorded oral histories that play as visitors walk by, handheld screens and a video by a shadow-puppet theater company that illustrates barriers Black families faced in finding housing, like redlining.
At the same time, the museum showcases lesser-known bright spots in public housing history, like resident-organized safety patrols and cooperatives to sell groceries. Public housing residents called “ambassadors” also work on museum staff.
“We had to change the narrative about public housing,” said Lee. “When you said the words ‘Cabrini-Green’ that brought up a visceral feeling in people. And usually that was one that was a stereotype of what it means to be poor and Black in America. Creating exhibits that challenge that narrative was a really important part of our work.”
Perhaps the best example is the “REC Room,” a music studio where visitors can scan albums from numerous genres to learn about musicians who lived in public housing. That includes Elvis and Salt-N-Pepa, whose group member DJ Spinderella lived in public housing and is a museum curator.
A large black and white photo on the wall shows beaming residents dancing at a Cabrini-Green house party.
It’s one of the favorite parts of the museum for Gentry Quinones, a museum staff member who lives in Chicago public housing.
“There was also joy and community,” she said.
Mailboxes salvaged from 1322 West Taylor Street are on display at the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A copy of the Jane Addams News is displayed at the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A beddroom is recreated to look like the home of the Rev. Elijah Hatch, his wife Helen Holmes Hatch and their eight children, who moved into public housing in 1960, at the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
An REO Speedwagon record is on loan from George Floyd's sister LaTonya Floyd as part of a collection of objects that tell stories about peoples' lives in public housing at the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Kitchen items are part of the Turovitz Family Apartment exhibit at the National Public Housing Museum, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A rotary phone is part of a collection of objects that tell stories about peoples' lives in public housing at the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Museum Educator Ambassador Gentry Quinones, a public housing resident, talks about an exhibit at the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Executive Director Dr. Lisa Yun Lee speaks about the opening of the National Public Housing Museum, built in the last remaining building of the 1930s WPA-era Jane Addams Homes, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
A video projection by Manual Cinema uses animation, shadow puppets and oral installation to help museum visitors "understand why more than 50 years after the Fair Housing Act of 1968, we are still living in a segregated world with a growing racial wealth gap," according to the National Public Housing Museum, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
