Years after Palatka native Cora Fells connected with CareerSource Northeast Florida (CareerSource NEFL) and received help to earn a culinary degree, she achieved a childhood dream in July 2021: opening her own restaurant in her hometown.
Aptly named ‘Cora’s Place,’ her family-style restaurant on Madison Street in Palatka seats up to 25 people and also offers online ordering and delivery services.
It was 2015 when Fells was introduced to CareerSource NEFL and accepted into the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Program, a job training program funded through the U.S. Department of Labor and administered through CareerSource affiliates in Florida.
“At the time I had an infant daughter and a four-year-old son, was just out of a relationship with their dad, didn’t have any money and didn’t know where I was going,” Fells said. “I was also battling with depression at the time, and I just needed something to do…something that I was capable of doing.”
Fells says she knew she could cook, and CareerSource NEFL had just added culinary school to the list of those classes approved for WIA funding.
“That’s why I ended up in culinary school,” she said. “Cooking was always something near and dear to my heart, but I just didn’t have the financial means to make it happen.”
With the help of CareerSource NEFL, Fells completed the culinary degree program at First Coast Technical College in St. Augustine. From there, Fells went on to work as a cook at Palatka Healthcare, as a cafeteria assistant at James A. Long Elementary School and as a cook at Haven Hospice – all in her hometown.
In 2019, in a leap of faith, she left Haven Hospice to start her own catering business. But unfortunately, the COVID-19 Pandemic struck. Just like many food establishments, her catering business suffered. That’s when Fells decided to go back to school, this time paying her own way, to attend Fortis College in Orange Park to get her certification as a registered nurse.
“I knew I wanted to continue to cook, but I did want something more permanent to fall back on in case something like that happened again,” she said.
Fells also published a book the same year: “A Church Girl’s Story…The Path to No Return.”
But between studies and her publishing, fate would lend a hand in getting her back into her dream job – owning her own restaurant. The mother of two, McKenzie (age nine) and Peyton (age 12), said owning a restaurant has been her dream since she was in seventh grade.
“Once I was able to get my resources and everything started picking back up, I was talking to a person who was telling me about this building being available and it was reasonable,” Fells said. “And it looked like my dreams could actually work.”
Summer Edwards, the office manager at the St. Johns Career Center, says Fells’ accomplishment represents “a fantastic success story.”
Fells says, “she’s just grinding,” and is just beginning to realize that her dream has come true. She says her business is doing well, but she still plans to finish out her nursing degree by December 2022.
“Really, CareerSource Northeast Florida served as the beginning of seeing my dreams come true,” she said.