WEHOville.com: West Hollywood and Partners Are Supporting a Culinary Arts Program for Homeless Young People

WEHOville.com recently featured a story about the City of West Hollywood partnership with Cedars-Sinai, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to support a culinary arts program for LGBT young people at risk of homelessness.

The aim of the program is to prepare at-risk LGBTQ young people for careers in the food and hospitality sectors, major areas of business in West Hollywood. The program is made possible, in part, by $160,000 in grant funding from Cedars-Sinai to The Los Angeles LGBT Center.

The grant was part of a $15 million commitment from Cedars-Sinai to 108 area nonprofits that aim to better the health and wellbeing of underserved populations in Los Angeles County.

This grant funding includes programs and organizations that foster housing stability, provide sustainable programs for homeless residents and build clinical and financial capacity at community clinics. The grants, announced in July, also support mental health training, services for veterans' groups, as well as a range of social services provided by several Jewish organizations.

“We take our role in the community as seriously as we take patient care, research and education," said Cedars-Sinai President and CEO Thomas M. Priselac. "We are driven by a strategic focus on improving access to care and addressing social determinants of health. Ultimately, we are working to break down barriers that affect tens of thousands of people within the safety net.”

According to WEHOville.com, up to 40 percent of local-area homeless youth ages 18 to 24 identify as LGBTQ.

In the culinary program, participants will learn basic culinary skills during 200 hours of hands-on instruction at the Center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus. Once completed, culinary students are placed in paid internships with food service businesses to fulfill the remaining 100 hours of intensive training.

The Los Angeles LGBT Center’s goal is to enroll 38 young people in the culinary program over the course of one year. In addition to this program, the Center offers to help to young people who are homeless through its youth support services and residential program. This includes meals, clothing, support groups, a charter high school, a general education diploma, and a college-prep program. Other services include employment preparation, training, and placement and independent living skills-building as well as medical care and counseling.

Read the complete story here.

Read more on the Cedars-Sinai blog: The Science of Eating