Café Momentum, a Dallas-based restaurant and culinary training facility, transforms young people’s lives by providing a positive environment in which at-risk youth who have spent time in juvenile facilities receive intensive culinary, job and life-skill training, as well as continued mentorship and support, enabling them to achieve their full potential.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit restaurant, Café Momentum teaches critical skills that allow youth to apply what they have been taught in pre-release programs in a safe, real-world environment of nurturing accountability. By participating in our program, at-risk young men and women rotate through every aspect of the restaurant from waiting tables to washing dishes, while working side-by-side with established chefs.

Cafe Momentum is a non-profit restaurant which provides a 12-month paid post-release internship program for kids coming out of juvenile detention. The internship begins with a 13-week orientation at which time interns are connected with case managers to address basic urgent needs, establish a baseline of stability in their lives and set personal goals. The interns work their way through all areas of the restaurant, learning legal employment, social skills and life skills. Case management works to round out the ecosystem of support including; financial literacy training, parenting classes, educational assistance and career exploration. Case managers help to work through issues such as anger management, trauma recovery, fatherlessness and abandonment. After 12 months, successful interns are able to graduate from the program and are placed in a job with one of our community partners. These young men and women, who the juvenile justice system has referred to as “throw-aways” are now employed, tax-paying, wholly contributing members of society.

Ruthie’s Fueled by Café Momentum serves as an extension of Café Momentum’s mission to provide at-risk youth another opportunity for job training, employment and mentorship opportunities. The partnership gives interns who have completed a 12-month internship at Café Momentum the opportunity to expand their professional development via a fellowship at one of Ruthie’s food trucks. Ruthie’s provides employment and training to expand the training, counseling and curriculum that our program offers.