The Genesis Center started in 1982 as a language school to help refugees from Vietnam learn English. It has since expanded to offer various education and support programs, including a culinary training program to help students gain job skills. The 13-week culinary arts program teaches students cooking basics as well as more advanced skills like food safety certification. The program aims to help students get entry-level culinary jobs and advance their careers. Students assist local chefs at a annual fundraising event, networking and gaining experience. The culinary program gives students confidence and skills to support themselves and their families through culinary careers.

1. 46 fall 2008 EDIBLERHODY.COM
Food Heroes
By David Rocheleau
Photos by Chip Riegel
The Genesis Center
Where New Beginnings Have a Tradition
It started out as a language school—very humbly, like many church-
based grassroots movements. In 1982 Sister Angela Daniels of the As-
sumption Parish in Providence saw an Asian woman walking her child
in snow with no coat, wearing sandals. Sister Angela inquired after them
and then consulted with different church leaders. Together with Father
Dan Trainor she quickly came to understand that Rhode Island was be-
coming home to a large percentage of the Hmong population coming
out of concentration camps in Vietnam.
The refugees were in need of language skills and support. Some of
the men, able to find factory work, were beginning to learn English.
More often the women would stay home with the children and as a re-
sult were more isolated in their new surroundings.
Father and Sister recruited a few accredited teachers who would go
into homes and teach English to the Hmong women living in South
Providence and the West End.
At a certain point there were so many people who wanted to learn
English that they were literally standing on chairs to make more room
in the various homes. Sister Angela and Father Trainor eventually per-
suaded the bishop to allow them to take over the former Assumption
School building on Potters Avenue in Providence. It had been aban-
doned and was in a bad state of disrepair. The whole community came
together to rebuild and renovate it.
Since then the Genesis Center has grown by leaps and bounds, of-
fering adult education including language classes, child care and support
services, as well as a culinary service training program for a wide spec-
trum of the local population.
“We believe that one needs to learn English in order to become in-
dependent,” said Mike Ritz, Genesis Center development director. “To
achieve that true self-sufficiency, you need to learn the new language
first, then [job training]. But cooking…has a language all its own.”
In 1993 the board of directors decided to augment the adult edu-
cation offerings with a culinary program so that Genesis Center stu-
dents seeking employment could rise through the kitchen ranks more
quickly. They looked to the culinary arts as a field of opportunity, not
only for earning entry-level jobs but also for fostering upward mobility.
Chef Branden Lewis has been leading the 13-week Culinary Arts
Program for the past two years. “When they leave, they’re leaving with
a well-rounded culinary education,” said Lewis. “They not only can go
out and get a job but also grow in it.” He teaches students the basics,
such as mother sauces, knife skills and recipe conversion, then advances
them through customer service, barista work and more, ending the pro-
gram with an optional ServSafe exam, a nationally recognized food
safety certification.
It’s the food safety training that puts culinary grads on a different
level. “A lot of jobs will say that you must have ServSafe certification,”
said student Shawn Gallogly. “The ones that require it are the ones that
are going to pay you better.” As a single father of an autistic child, keep-
ing his head above water is challenging enough. Having been homeless

2. EDIBLERHODY.COM fall 2008 47
for a time, Shawn hopes to benefit from the opportunities afforded by
the advanced training.
He and his son were living with Shawn’s mother, splitting the rent,
when she passed away. “It was devastating. It took a lot out of my son es-
pecially,” remembered Shawn. Shawn eventually landed at the Crossroads
family shelter, where he learned about the Genesis Center. “I hope to be
making some good money when I get out of this program,” he added.
Since 1996 The Genesis Center has been host to an annual
fundraiser called Food for Thought, where students in the culinary pro-
gram get an opportunity to network with local chefs and restaurateurs.
It’s also a way for the Genesis Center to establish important links within
the local restaurant community. Participating restaurants and vineyards
set up exhibits; guests can talk to their favorite chefs or simply enjoy
unique culinary delights from some of Rhode Island’s finest restaurants
and winemakers.
Originally the students had their own table at the event, displaying
their products and showing what they could create. Last year they began
assisting with the restaurant chefs, helping to set up and providing sup-
port during the event. “It’s by far the best model,” asserted Mike Ritz.
“Restaurant owners and chefs would say, ‘Any time you have students
looking for a job, send them to us.’ [Our students] are professionals; they
have the work ethic to go through the course and not be absent or late.”
Another important exercise for students is the five-course culinary
cookoff that Chef Branden designed to showcase their talents, a kind of
Iron Chef competition. Mike recruited food critics, chefs and writers as
judges. Though none of the students had gourmet food experience, each
team had to plan a menu, create shopping lists and budgets and learn
wine pairings and plate presentations.
“This competition is what really makes them grow as a group to-
gether,” said Chef Branden. “They went from being so green to being
able to produce a high-end meal. In the end, everybody won because it
was all about the amazing experience.”
Clearly, success is the common goal. “Everyone has their own lit-
tle dream of what success is,” Chef Branden mused. “Some of them
dream to go really far, and those are the ones I can’t wait to see in a few
years. I would be so happy if even one of my students wound up being
a head chef somewhere, running a restaurant.”
Not everyone who joins the culinary training program dreams that
far. Many just want a full-time job with benefits, good pay and work
while their kids are in school. Shawn is one of them. He’s found a per-
manent apartment and is feeling confident about his future. “I want to
work a regular shift, and to enjoy life with my son. I want to take him
to football games and baseball games and just do the things that we
want to do,” he says, his face lighting up at the idea.
“It’s really pretty simple,” he says with a grin. eR
David Rocheleau is a chef-educator, freelance writer and a culinary arts
graduate of Johnson & Wales University. He works for the Feinstein Com-
munity Service Center at the university.
The Genesis Center
620 Potters Ave., Providence
401-781-6110
gencenter.org
For more information on the 12th Annual Food for Thought, Septem-
ber 25, 2008 at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center or to pur-
chase the Genesis Center International Cookbook: 35 Recipes from 25
Cultures visit foodforthoughtri.org.
Left to right: Chef Branden Lewis (center) demonstrates a sauce preparation for (from left) Gamell Robles, Laurie Francis, and Tonnette
Perry; hands at work; Chef Branden Lewis assists student Luis Cruz.
chipriegel.com