Laura Martinez is spending time at Friedman Place as part of an ongoing workshop in which residents prepare their own meals. From chopping and shredding veggies to cooking meats, they follow Laura's hands-on instructions to create dishes, then sit down together to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

In the photo below, Laura and residents are mixing fruit and toppings to create a spicy Mexican summer salad.

Blind since birth, Laura attended the Le Cordon Bleu culinary program at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago and interned in the kitchen of the Chicago Lighthouse. She has been offered a position by famed chef Charlie Trotter. Laura was recently featured in a Chicago Tribune article, and has plans to open her own restaurant one day.