Some of Kerry Brodie's earliest memories are making cinnamon buns with her grandmother.

"I just remember the whole process. There's the exact bowl, we always used that bowl, and that table cloth we used to cover the dough as it rises," she recalled.

Cooking became Brodie's passion and so did helping others.

Food and its power to bring people together was the spark for her starting "Emma's Torch". 

It's a non-profit organization that gives culinary training to refugees for free.

"We ask our students to bring their whole selves here, and that means their hard work, their energy, their creativity and it also means their culinary backgrounds," Brodie said.

Their cooking crosses borders.

Students come from all over the world and start from the ground up.

They learn basic kitchen vocabulary, knife skills, and how to build a menu.

Then they prepare all of the dishes to be served at the organization's Carroll Gardens restaurant.

"We are completely empowering that person to not only learn a little bit more about this industry or to get a job but to acclimate themselves into our culture, this country they have now become a part of," said Alexander Harris, Emma's Torch Culinary Director.

Since coming to this country from Jamaica, working in the kitchen feels like home for Terricka Hall.

"Cooking takes me to a peaceful place so it's very exciting to me when I talk about it, I want to laugh, I feel just like a kid," Hall said.

Since the organization's launch two years ago, all of the program's graduates have found jobs.

Brodie says that's what motivates her mission.

"I can't imagine how scary it can be for them, learning a new skill set, beginning new lives, and the fact that they come here with a smile and such faith that we are going to support them, that's what gets me up every day," Brodie said.

So for giving refugees the recipe for success, Kerry Brodie is our New Yorker of the Week.