New Dining Services Manager Named

On the day that Timothy Howard was offered the position of Dining Services Manager for the Victory Centre of South Chicago by Sheryl Jones of Unidine, his wife was returning home from a one year tour of duty in Iraq.

He said, “this is a dream come true. Since the fourth grade I dreamt of becoming a chef and I am.”

His road traveled was through a path of the Victory Centres. While in his last class in the Culinary Management Program at the Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago, he had to complete a project on food service in senior housing. He noticed the Victory Centre of Sierra Ridge in Country Club Hills one day while taking his daughter to daycare and went in to see if he could get information for his project. While there, Executive Director, Pattie Doyle, introduced him to Jones. She saw something in him and offered him a chance to complete his externship with Unidine.

While working with Unidine, Tim got to work throughout the Pathway portfolio. He was able to train under the knowledgeable Chefs of Unidine and learn how SenSations works for the residents of Victory Centres.

Once his externship ended, he continued to volunteer his time, especially at Victory Centre of South Chicago who was down cooks and a manager. His dedication to the team and commitment towards excellence landed him an opportunity with Unidine.

At the end of May during a manager’s meeting, Jones presented Howard with a book entitled, “Pursuit of Happyness,” by Financial wizard Chris Gardner, whom the movie of the same name was made after. Jones was sharing Howard’s story with a friend one day and to her surprise, her friend later presented her with his personally autographed book to Howard.