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 1,300 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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December 5, 2025 | Dallas
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January 3, 2026 | Dallas
In the News
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December 2, 2025 | Pittsburgh
My Cleats My Cause
Steelers players can often be seen wearing custom cleats during pregame warmups, but this week against the Buffalo Bills custom cleats will be the norm during the game. For the 10th straight year the NFL is allowing players to represent a charity that touches them deeply in a unique manner with the league’s player cause […]
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November 25, 2025 | Atlanta
The Humanity Show with Arik Armstead
Arik Armstead of the Jacksonville Jaguars went into the kitchen to learn more about Café Momentum, a non-profit restaurant that employs justice-involved youth and provides them with life skills, education and counseling. Watch Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OawPi2MXWyQ
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November 7, 2025 | Pittsburgh
Former Steelers players tackle future of sports, tech during discussion in Pittsburgh
Three former Steelers players teamed up on Monday to talk sports and technology. Jerome Bettis, Joey Porter and Charlie Batch took part in “Beyond the Goal Line: Life, Legacy and Tech.” The “fireside-style” discussion was meant to explore how technology continues to reshape the landscape of sports, from recruitment to coaching. “That’s what we’re asking […]
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
