And Now It’s the Home for Others THE HOTEL WAS HOME FOR NITSA’S FAMILY
we stayed in was the exact room I lived in during my internships. We enjoyed our trip so much, and we want to stay at the Ocean House every year for our anniversary — we already booked our next stay! I’m grateful for the experiences I created while in college. I wish I could go back and relive those days. The friends I created, the networking opportunities and the Ocean House made my time at Johnson & Wales University special. Thank you for those wonderful memories. help them mobilize themselves. On top of providing this care, Michael also listens to each guest’s story. She wants to provide financial and emotional support in any way she can. “Seeing all the people staying here and how happy they are is all because of [my mother],” Michael’s daughter says. Michael visits the hotel once a week and she loves to see the children around the hotel. It reminds her of raising her own children there and seeing families heal and become a family again brings her great joy. The Seaward Hotel is listed on Homes for Ukraine , where Ukrainians can find places to stay. The hotel is open for anyone in need of a place to call home. If you want to donate and help Michael and her family support refugees, go to SeawardHotel.co.UK.
After receiving my associate degree in culinary arts, I studied for another two years for my bachelor’s in management. But my networking didn’t stop there. I continued to work under some fantastic chefs and created connections to last a lifetime. As I climbed the networking ladder and worked in restaurants until I opened October Kitchen, I always thought about the Ocean House. The house was the best part of my college career, and I wanted to take my wife there. The house was old — it was built around the 1860s, so when it officially closed, a developer bought it and renovated it. They kept the initial decor and aesthetic of the original house. Last year for our wedding anniversary, my wife and I stayed at the Ocean House. The room their homes with nothing to their names,” Michael says. The situation in Ukraine hit home for Michael and her family. She empathized with them and wanted to find a way to give back in any way she could. She didn’t want these families to suffer like her family did before they found a home. Michael and her husband became the owners of the Seaward Hotel shortly after they entered Britain and raised their four children there. Now, they want to share their home with others. Currently, 22 refugees live in the hotel, where they share meals and time together. Once new visitors arrive, they receive a welcome bag with essentials such as shower gels, deodorant, toothbrushes and other items. In addition, the local government is providing $250 to each person who seeks refuge in Britain to
When war erupted in Ukraine this February, millions of Ukrainians fled to seek refuge in other countries. These people, mostly women and children, left behind everything they’d ever known in pursuit of safety. At the time, they didn’t know where they might end up. But 84-year-old Nitsa Michael had a plan to make them feel comfortable and at home. Michael owns Seaward Hotel in Weston- super-Mare, England and she closed her hotel so that Ukrainian refugees could stay there. “I felt for them,” Michael tells the Good News Network. She understands the hardships Ukrainians are going through because she was in the same position decades ago. In 1974, Michael and her family evacuated The Republic of Cyprus when Turkey invaded. “Everyone fled
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my bags and headed to Rhode Island. My fondest memories come from there. During the internship, I got to live in the Ocean House. I helped prepare breakfast and lunch, then I had the afternoons off. You could always find me by the ocean — it was my go-to spot! I worked with some fantastic people and learned so much about the business side of owning a kitchen. Charlie, the chef I worked under, was incredible. After leaving the Ocean House, he moved to California and became the first chef for Google when they were a startup company. I continued to intern in Rhode Island at the Ocean House for the next two summers. The experience was spectacular — I never wanted to leave!
2 OctoberKitchen.com
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