Santiago looking forward to shaping policy for Camden for holiday season and beyond
Haddonfield native Carrie Kitchen Santiago has done well in her professional career, and now she’s committed to doing good as the new executive director at Camden’s Cathedral Kitchen, having assumed the role on Nov. 6.
“I’m in my fourth week. For the first six-to-12 months, I’m just going to be learning about the organization, about Camden, about our stakeholders, about staff. The organization is on very good footing because of Karen Talarico and the board, I’m looking to continue the success they’ve had. And eventually either expand or deepen what we do.”
The nonprofit, located on Federal Street, has been active since 1976. In 2017, it provided more than 100,000 meals, along with vocational training, health and dental services to the community. Although separated by only six miles, the worlds inhabited by those living in the two locales couldn’t be more different.
Santiago grew up on Bryn Mawr Avenue with her sister and parents, attended Haddonfield middle and high schools, and was active in the theater during that time, winning roles in several plays and musicals. Beneath that idyllic tableau, however, was a strong sense that life wasn’t so worry-free for everyone.
“The thing that really shaped me was my upbringing. My parents emphasized giving back to the community and helping people that didn’t have the same advantages we did. We were conscious of the inner city and the poverty of the inner cities, and that I wanted to do something about that,” Santiago explained. “When I went to college, I realized I wanted a career that in some ways helped folks in the area who are low income.”
Santiago’s academic pursuits took her to the University of Pennsylvania for her undergraduate years, earning a degree in American history. Six years later, she rejoined the academic world, attending Princeton University and obtaining a master’s of public administration in public affairs and urban/regional planning.
Santiago worked for nearly five years with Broad Street Ministry based in Philadelphia, in high level positions. In that period, she expanded its outreach from one day per week to six-day operations, which resulted in an increase in people served per week from a small handful to 1,600, while also initiating partnerships with nonprofits to deliver social services on site rather than being outsourced.
In light of her present responsibilities, though, Santiago plans to again reach back to her formative years as a guiding light toward shaping the future of Cathedral Kitchen.
“My parents owned an architecture firm. They would do a lot of pro bono construction and architecture work for a daycare center in southwest Philadelphia that had primarily enrolled low-income kids,” she said. “My family would adopt several families that the head of the school identified at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and provide all the food for the meal and also all the presents and winter coats for the kids. We’d donate them anonymously and then the school would give them to the families.”
However long it may take for Santiago to put her own stamp on the position Talarico held for the last 16 years, she wants the public to know its basic mission has not changed. She cut to the heart of the matter with the slogan, “Cathedral Kitchen: We use food to change lives and try to make Camden a better place.”
For more information, or to make donations, visit www.cathedralkitchen.org, or call (856) 964–6771.
