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# Washington feeds Santa Monica’s homeless By Daily Press staff
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/washington-feeds-santa-monicas-homeless-by-daily-press-staff/
- Published: 2004-07-02T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:41:24.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Community, Venice, #archive-import, Homeless

The city’s homeless men, women and children were recently served a warm meal by the director of President George W. Bush’s Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at St. Joseph Center’s Bread & Roses Café in Venice. The appearance by director Jim Towey, his 9-year-old son and other Washington, D.C. representatives at St. Joseph’s human services agency represented the government’s new approach to helping those in need.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it’s great,” Towey said. “The sense of community at the café and the gratitude from the clients is tremendous.”

The St. Joseph Center provides emergency services, childcare, case management, employment training and senior services to more than 8,000 homeless people each year in eight different locations in Venice, Santa Monica and West Los Angeles. The White House’s support of faith-based and community organizations ensures that grass-roots leaders can compete on an equal footing for federal dollars, receive greater private support, and face fewer bureaucratic barriers, officials said.

Washington suits visited the center last November and commended it as a model of innovative and comprehensive human services provided by faith-based social service agencies in Los Angeles County, officials said.

“What an honor it is to be recognized for our years of work on behalf of working poor families and homeless persons,” said Rhonda Meister, St. Joseph Center’s executive director. “Our programs will certainly benefit from the support of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.”

More information about the center can be found by calling (310) 396-6468, ext. 328 or by visiting www.stjosephctr.org.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/070204-06_01.jpg)

(Left to right) Rhonda Meister, St. (Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 2, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/070204.pdf?ref=smdp.com)