All Youth Deserve To Dream
We create opportunities for justice-involved youth through an ever-expanding network of award-winning restaurants and training programs. Youth, ages 15–19, gain industry skills and a strong support system. Restaurants alone can’t transform the juvenile justice system, but they can reshape communities and futures—one meal, one person at a time.
Learn more about our model
Our Impact
Our justice system can be very messy, especially when it comes to the way it works (or doesn’t) for young people.
Despite reforms, youth incarceration remains a critical issue in the United States, which continues to have the highest youth confinement rates among developed nations. As of the most recent data, approximately 36,500 youth under age 18 are detained in juvenile facilities on any given day, a significant decrease from prior years. However, disparities and systemic challenges persist. Around 200 children under age 12 are confined annually, and some youth are still held in adult facilities, despite reforms aimed at reducing this practice.
Our Mission
Café Momentum's mission is to transform young lives by equipping our community’s justice-involved youth with life skills, education and employment opportunities to help them achieve their full potential.
Transforming Lives
A Decade of Hope, Growth and Impact
For 10 years, Café Momentum has empowered justice-involved youth to dream big, rewrite their stories and build brighter futures. With over 1,200 lives transformed, our work proves the power of community and opportunity.
Watch Tristyn and Chad’s story and see how your support fuels the next chapter.
10 Years of Momentum: A Bold New Vision
Today marks a momentous milestone for Café Momentum: 10 years of transforming lives, breaking down stigma and proving what’s possible when we invest in opportunity for our youth.
10 Years of Cafe Momentum
Events
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February 14, 2025 | Pittsburgh
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February 16, 2025 | Dallas
In the News
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January 30, 2025 | Dallas
Dallas restaurant Cafe Momentum to move to new,‘free’ location
The Meadows Foundation donated 1 acre of land for this Dallas nonprofit to grow. Cafe Momentum, the Dallas nonprofit once described as “the ultimate feel-good restaurant,” will move to a new location in 2026. The restaurant that employs teens seeking a second chance is expected to vacate its spot in downtown Dallas’ Thanksgiving Square after more than […]
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January 29, 2025 | Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Pittsburgh
Celebrating 10 Years of Momentum: A Bold New Vision
A letter from Olivia Cole, Café Momentum Chief Strategy Officer: Today marks a momentous milestone for Café Momentum: 10 years of transforming lives, breaking down stigma and proving what’s possible when we invest in opportunity for our youth. As we celebrate this milestone and look to the future, Momentum Advisory Collective (M.A.C.) is transitioning its […]
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January 26, 2025 | Dallas
Cafe Momentum Breaks Ground on Dallas Flagship to Expand Its Outreach
Cafe Momentum, a Dallas restaurant that doubles as a nonprofit that teaches at-risk youth culinary skills, is expanding its mission with a new flagship “learning location.” Located in the Wilson Historic District (3001 Greenwood Street) in Old East Dallas — not far from the Cafe’s Downtown location, the new hub is expected to “provide interns […]
Our manifesto
Dreams are the ink with which we write our stories
We learn to dream the moment we take our first steps: We’re told we can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone. That we’re limited only by what we dare to imagine, and how hard we’re willing to work for it. But for some of us, there are limits. Some of us don’t get to write our own stories.
Read full manifesto
