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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July 26, 2025 | Pittsburgh
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August 10, 2025 | Dallas
In the News
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July 18, 2025 | Pittsburgh
8 Chefs and Resturants Leading the Way in Pittsburgh’s Culinary Excellence
BY TABLE MAGAZINE STAFF JULY 17, 2025 There’s no end to the investment of toil and genius that goes into creating and maintaining a successful restaurant. Because the hardest work is usually done behind the scenes, it is often undervalued. Because there is frequently a team involved, it sometimes even goes unmentioned. In this year’s […]
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June 23, 2025 | Pittsburgh
Downtown nonprofit cafe teaches teens life skills
A Downtown nonprofit cafe is offering yearlong employment to justice-impacted kids, giving them financial support and critical life skills. Why it matters: Cafe Momentum is giving young people who have been impacted by the juvenile justice system growth opportunities through employment in its kitchen and dining area. How it works: The nonprofit is funded by donations and […]
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June 17, 2025 | Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Pittsburgh
Here Are the 2025 James Beard Restaurant Award Winners
Toni Tipton-Martin, Jungsik Yim and the restaurateurs behind Le Veau d’Or were among the top honorees. By Julia Moskin June 16, 2025 The James Beard Foundation gave out its annual culinary awards Monday night in Chicago, with the chefs and co-hosts Andrew Zimmern and Nyesha Arrington handing out gold medals to chefs, restaurateurs, bakers and bartenders from across […]
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
