New Haven Job Corps Culinary Arts student Gloria Coopwood is on a 10-week paid internship at a new Work Based Learning site for the New Haven Job Corps Center – Village Cafe, a local eatery and a social enterprise of Marrakech, Inc.

The Village Café, located at 520 Whalley Avenue in New Haven, CT, is a fully functioning café and catering business, which also serves as a food service training program for consumers of Marrakech. The Food Service Training program is a transitional program that teaches basic food service skills to individuals with a stated desire to work in the food service industry. Staff members work with trainees to maximize independence.

The goal of the program is to foster a successful transition to competitive placement in the industry. Participants typically will work in this transitional setting for three to six months. Time may vary as warranted by individual training needs and support plans. Typical schedule consists of 12 hours of paid training each week. Some of the areas covered by the training program include: Safety and Health, Personal Hygiene, Proper Food handling and Storage, Safe and Proper Use of Equipment, Cash Register Training, Cleaning, Proper Knife Skills and Kitchen Communication. Employment Specialists complete weekly reports on all trainees.

The Café is open to the public for breakfast and lunch, Monday – Friday from 7:00A.M. to 3:00 P.M. and provides free internet access for its customers. Catering of events is available seven days per week, day or evening.

Gloria is learning all aspects of the business, from taking orders and customer relations to pre work and cooking in the kitchen.