By Daily Press staff
Those down-and-out are finding their futures in the kitchen. Los Angeles County’s GROW Program for unemployed and low-income individuals recently recognized St. Joseph Center’s culinary training program with an award for the job training and placement the center has provided for 29 men and women during the past year. The county’s GROW program is mandatory for employable General Relief recipients and consists of three components: Orientation, job-skills preparation and job skills assessment.
The center’s culinary training program is for unemployed men and women who are interested in the food service industry and consists of six weeks of classes and four weeks of internship at local hospitals, colleges and restaurants. Operating at the center’s “Bread & Roses Café,” the program offers food preparation, life skills coaching, resume preparation, and bus tokens for transportation to interviews. Five of the last year’s 40 graduates have been hired as permanent employees at UCLA.
St. Joseph Center assists more than 8,000 working poor and homeless adults and children, veterans, and seniors each year to achieve self-sufficiency through case management, food distributions, child care, mentoring and job training.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.