He Grew Up in Abuse. Now He Feeds the World.

Some people survive a hard childhood and spend the rest of their life quietly grateful. Chason Forehand survived his and decided that was not enough.

Chason is the founder of HR-4U, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in New York's Hudson Valley. Through a program called Transformation Kitchen, he takes people who have been pushed to the margins and gives them culinary training, community, and a reason to believe their life is not over. The 12-week program does not just teach people how to cook. It wraps around them. Wellness checks. Family atmosphere. Support that does not disappear when the program ends.

What Chason built is impressive. What makes it worth talking about here, on a show rooted in conscious parenting and bullying prevention, is the story behind it.

Hurt People Hurt People. Healed People Change the World.

We talk about bullying as if it starts and ends on a school playground. It does not. Bullying is a cycle, and like most cycles, it traces back to pain that was never addressed.

Children who grow up in environments shaped by abuse, neglect, or instability are not just at higher risk of being bullied. They are also more likely to become the ones doing the bullying, not because they are bad kids, but because no one ever showed them another way to move through the world.

Chason's story is a living example of what becomes possible when that cycle gets interrupted. He did not have an easy start. He grew up navigating abuse and addiction. And rather than let those experiences close him off, he let them crack him open. Every kitchen he builds, every life that walks through the door of a Transformation Kitchen program, is a direct result of someone choosing to do something different with their pain.

That is the conversation we need to be having with our kids.

What Bullying Prevention Actually Looks Like

Parents often think of bullying prevention as a conversation, a school policy, or a book. And those things matter. But the deepest prevention work happens in the values we model every single day.

When our children watch us show up for people who are struggling, they learn that struggling people deserve dignity, not dismissal. When they see adults in their lives building things that lift others up, they start to understand that their choices carry weight beyond their own household.

Chason travels the world to build his kitchens. He set up the first Transformation Kitchen in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, the same region Dali grew up in. He is now working toward Australia, Canada, India, Costa Rica, Detroit, and more, with a goal of 20 kitchens in a single year. He does this not because it is easy, but because he knows what it feels like to be the person who needed a door to open.

That is a story worth telling your children.

Three Reasons This Episode Belongs in Your Parenting Playlist

First, it shows what resilience actually looks like. Not the Instagram version of resilience that comes with a sunset and a motivational quote. Real resilience. The kind that takes years, that still has hard days, that builds something lasting instead of just surviving.

Second, it gives your kids a framework for empathy that goes beyond feelings. Chason's work connects workforce dignity, food access, and community support in ways that help children understand why some people struggle and what real help looks like, as opposed to charity that keeps people dependent.

Third, it normalizes service as a life value, not a school requirement. When kids grow up in families where giving back is just what you do, they carry that with them. They become adults who build things like Transformation Kitchen.

One Person Can Make a Massive Difference

One of the most powerful moments in this conversation is when Chason talks about what it takes to actually change someone's life. The answer is simpler than most people expect. It is showing up. Consistently. With dignity. Without making the other person feel like a project.

That is also what conscious parenting looks like. You do not have to run a global nonprofit to raise a child who contributes something meaningful to the world. You have to show up, pay attention, and model the values you want them to carry forward.

Chason Forehand is proof that where you start does not determine where you end up. And the children watching the adults in their lives right now are learning the same lesson, whether we intend to teach it or not.

Listen to the Full Conversation

Catch the full episode with Chason Forehand on The DaliTalks Podcast. You will hear about what it took to build kitchens across international borders, how he keeps donors accountable, why paying living wages is not just the ethical choice but the smart one, and how you can get involved from wherever you are in the world.

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