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# St. Joseph Center culinary trainees cook alongside Italian trade officials at event
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/061805-story-20050618-2/
- Published: 2005-06-18T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:16:10.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Community, Venice, #archive-import, Homeless

the image of Italy to everyone.” Fortunato Celi Zullo, Italian trade commissioner, and Paola De Mari, executive director of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce West, helped Brasioli to serve food at the event.

St. Joseph Center’s Culinary Training Program provides homeless and low-income men and women with six weeks of classroom and practical training in food industry skills, followed by a four-week internship in hospital food service. The program also includes life skills coaching, resume preparation, mock interviews, and bus tokens for transportation to assist graduates to find work.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the Italian Consulate, the Italian Trade Commission, and all of the other Italian institutions that have made this event so instructive and enjoyable for our clients and our students,” said Rhonda Meister, the Center’s executive director.

St. Joseph Center provides emergency services, food, child care, job training, and senior services to more than 7,000 homeless and low-income men, women, and children each year in Venice, Santa Monica and West Los Angeles. For more information on Italian Summer, visit www.italiansummer.org. For more information on St. Joseph Center, visit www.stjosephctr.org.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 18, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/061805.pdf?ref=smdp.com)