ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The St. Patrick Center provides much more than hot meals to help the homeless: It opened a new small business incubator and trades training center on Tuesday with a goal of helping the homeless, or those at risk, find stable, good-paying work.

The center in downtown St. Louis -- the largest provider of homeless services in Missouri -- has been helping those in need for a quarter century.

For years, homeless agencies put much of their focus on emergency assistance. The St. Patrick Center continues that work, serving more than 150,000 meals to the hungry in the last fiscal year. But it hopes its new programs will get at some of the root causes of homelessness, said Dan Buck, the center's chief executive officer.

The St. Patrick Center transformed its fourth and fifth floors into space to launch new businesses and help the homeless learn skills in demand by area employers. It's a $5 million investment using funds from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Catholic Charities of St. Louis and the center's assets.

"When we talk about homelessness, I always say it takes more than shelters and soup kitchens," said Jan DeYoung, director of the new Project Begin incubator and trades training programs. "It's a new beginning for us, a whole new model for addressing homelessness issues."

The center isn't taking people off the streets and turning them into overnight entrepreneurs. Rather, the approach is to help people find stable housing and address health issues, and then, once approved by a caseworker, train them in new job skills, DeYoung said. Once they start a job, they continue to meet with work counselors and have access to social support services, if needed.

Originally, the center planned to team up with a technical college to train program participants using trades equipment onsite. The center later decided to work with individual employers who commit to the program, identify what types of skilled employees they need and assist with the training at the center.

The small business incubator space offers small, professionally outfitted offices for low rent. But more than that, the businesses that are accepted into the incubator will be assessed to determine their areas of strength and weakness, receive guidance through a mentoring program, be able to share administrative services and learn from other entrepreneurs.

Other businesses will be considered affiliates, meaning they're not fully in the incubator program but use the center's business address, facilities and services.

In turn, the businesses or their vendors work to employ some St. Patrick Center clients. The homeless center is also opening a furniture construction and restoration program onsite.

The president of the Ohio-based National Business Incubation Association, Dinah Adkins, said while there are about 1,100 business incubators in the nation, she does not know of any others in the country focused primarily on the homeless.

She expected a small business incubator focused on employing the homeless might face unique challenges -- because it would be working with individuals that might have mental health issues or other obstacles. But, she said careful screening should help to make sure those who participate are ready.

DeYoung said several culinary businesses are already working through the incubator, like an area pastry maker and a barbecue sauce business. He said businesses in construction trades, landscaping, health care, hospitality and security are expected to be good fits.

The hope would be to establish up to 30 companies in the next four to five years, DeYoung said.

Janese Jordan, 42, of East St. Louis, Ill., said she hopes skills she gained in the new job training program will help her with a new painting career.

Jordan, who said she served in Iraq and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, was indicted earlier this year on two counts of mail fraud, six counts of embezzlement or theft from a health care program and one count of theft from a federally funded program.

She said Tuesday night she awaits trial and didn't wish to comment on the charges of stealing more than $50,000 while she was director of a residential facility for people recovering from alcohol or substance abuse.

Jordan did not discuss the charges in her remarks before the audience at the St. Patrick Center Tuesday, but told the audience, "I haven't always felt so strong, but right now because of some of the things happening to me through this program, I feel real strong."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)