Knowing that she easily could be in their place, Zoraida Bermudez is pleased to cook for women at the YWCA Battered Women's Shelter.

        The single mother of three says she was mabused mentally and verbally by a former boyfriend and knows what it's like to have a poor Christmas.

        It's only because of the YWCA's help that she has turned her life around. She began working at the shelter three months ago, after the YWCA referred her a new food-service training program, Cincinnati Cooks.

        “That's why I like my job,” she said. “It makes me feel real good. I've come to realize that where I thought I had it bad, some people have it worse.

        “I hope (the shelter) will need me forever. It makes me appreciate what I have.”

               A kitchen away from home
       Ms. Bermudez prepares lunch and dinner at the shelter. She feels a special sense of pride whenever the mothers and their children come back for second and third helpings.

        She feels at home, she said, among the kitchen's stocked shelves and refrigerators.

        “I like my kitchen,” she said. “I have everything that I need in there. I've got my own space.”

        On Thursday, she prepared a holiday meal for 45 women and children. She cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and many other dishes, using the skills that she honed in Cincinnati Cooks.

        Sponsored by the FreeStore/FoodBank agency, the pilot, 10-week course trains students for Ohio-endorsed food service certificates and readies them for catering, restaurant and food-service jobs.

        The YWCA recommended Ms. Bermudez for the program. The agency also helped her get her general equivalency diploma.

        Originally from St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Ms. Bermudez moved to Georgia in 1995. An abusive relationship followed.

        She arrived in Cincinnati more than a year ago.

Opportunity knocks
               When a cook's position opened at the YWCA shelter, Theresa Adair, the protection abuse director at the YWCA, immediately thought of Ms. Bermudez.

        “We thought: "Hey! We've got a cook! Let's hire her,” she said.

        The mother of three is anxious to spend Christmas with the women at the shelter. She then will leave for her St. Bernard residence to enjoy the holiday with her children — Grace, 13, Marc-Henri, 9, and Jahzyrah, 2.

        The family's tree and gifts promise to be more bounteous than ever before.

        “It's great. We haven't seen a Christmas like this in a long time,” she said.

        The shelter welcomes battered women to call them during the holidays. The number is 221-4357.

Gas explosion levels home
Spirit uplifts despite past year's downers
Christmas closings
Northern Ky. Christmas closings
Saks subsidy controversial
Terms of preliminary Saks deal
Other projects that received city subsidies
Charter schools get low grades on tests
Charter schools hinder CPS cash flow
Shirey gets interim job offer from Springfield
Killer sought in Walnut Hills shooting
Local Digest
Observers flock to join bird count
RADEL: Tradition bakes new memories
Woman serving holiday cheer
You Asked For It
$61K grant aids environmental cleanup efforts
Congrats
Good News: Helpers awarded tickets
Grants assist tourism promotion
Pet shelter seeks funds for facility
Site search might be extended
Stories, photos sought for Mason history book
Ohio lags in college degrees
Power lines under lake could serve U.S., Canada
War: Distance can't shield Kentucky
Coal-truck weight is at issue
Son says he killed father who threatened to kill family
State gains political advantage on projects