Emmaus is a community-based non-profit housing and service organization that helps homeless families and single individuals rebuild their lives and reach their fullest potential. Emmaus provides permanent affordable housing, emergency shelter, transitional housing, housing search and stabilization services, adult education and job training, and compassionate support services to more than 3,000 people annually. On any given night, more than 300 adults and children call Emmaus "home."

Chef Kristen Kish is inspired by the opportunity to bring people together through the shared experience of food, wine and hospitality. As chef de cuisine at Stir, Chef Barbara Lynch's demonstration kitchen and cookbook store in Boston, Kish plans a nightly menu that she prepares in front of 10 guests while explaining the processes and techniques involved. In her early life, Kish showed an affinity for food and enjoyed cooking shows such as the “Great Chefs of the World” series on The Discovery Channel. At first, she did not envision a career in the kitchen, instead attending college to study International Business. She discovered it was not for her. Her mother steered her toward cooking school and the rest, as they say, is history.