• July 8, 2026 | IGNITE

  Ignite Newsletter: 2026 July

  By Tristyn, Café Momentum Ambassador Fellow There’s something nobody prepares you for about returning home, truly returning, not just stepping through a doorway. It’s the burden of proving your worth in a world that already judged you before you arrived. I know that burden intimately. I’ve dragged it into job interviews, into meetings with hiring […]

• June 16, 2026 | Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Pittsburgh

  Chef Chad Houser Is Helping Formerly Incarcerated Teens Gain Opportunity—And Momentum

  by Derek Rose Source link: https://time.com/collection/visionaries/2026/chad-houser/ In 2025, chef Chad Houser, founder and CEO of Café Momentum, was driving in his home city of Dallas when he received a call that made it difficult to focus on the road. On the other end was Dawn Padmore, vice president of awards at the James Beard Foundation, who […]

• June 3, 2026 | IGNITE

  Ignite Newsletter: 2026 June

  By Tristyn, Café Momentum Ambassador Fellow There is a conversation that does not get nearly enough airtime, and this month we are making space for it. Economic opportunity. Not as a talking point or a policy footnote but as something deeply personal. I have felt both its presence and its absence, and both have changed […]

• May 29, 2026 | Atlanta

  Atlanta nonprofit cafe serves up hope and opportunity for justice-involved youth and young adults

  Cafe Momentum Atlanta is a nonprofit serving up good food while changing the lives of youth and young adults who have had direct contact with the juvenile justice system. The nonprofit opened its doors in May of 2025. Since then, they’ve had 46 participants, also called interns, come through the program. Twelve more recently started. […]

• May 7, 2026 | IGNITE

  Ignite Newsletter: 2026 May

  By Tristyn, Café Momentum Ambassador Fellow  This month, we are making space for a conversation around mental health. After spending my childhood navigating systems that were quick to address what I had done but slow to ask how I was doing, I adamantly believe that mental health is not a side conversation to be taken […]

• May 4, 2026 | Dallas

  Wraparound Supports, Untapped Talent and the Conditions for Thriving

  On April 19 in Dallas, the SHRM Foundation, in partnership with Big Thought, convened a small, intentionally mixed group of leaders at Café Momentum for a dinner conversation on what it actually takes to help people not just access work, but thrive within it. The gathering was part of the SHRM Foundation’s Tharseo Exchange series, […]

• May 4, 2026 | Atlanta

  Cafe Momentum cooks up career development program for youth

  Sandy Welfare, executive director of Cafe Momentum Atlanta, and James Brashears III, general manager. Byron E. Small By Crystal Edmonson – Senior Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle Read more: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2026/05/04/cafe-momentum-youth-workforce-development.html

• April 30, 2026 | Dallas

  Cafe Momentum scales its mission with new East Dallas flagship

  Cafe Momentum scales its mission with new East Dallas flagship By Luciana Gomez A rendering of the exterior of the new two-story Cafe Momentum flagship center in East Dallas. Rendering courtesy of Cafe Momentum. For over a decade, Cafe Momentum has served as more than just an acclaimed culinary destination in downtown Dallas; it has been a catalyst […]

• April 27, 2026 | Dallas

  When Care Becomes a Model: How Thrive Restaurant Group Is Reimagining Workforce Support

  This Second Chance Month, Café Momentum is proud to recognize Thrive Restaurant Group as a supporting partner — and to share the story of how one visit to Dallas sparked something bigger. At Café Momentum, we don’t count chances. For many of the young people we serve, this is their first — a first job, […]

• April 20, 2026 | Pittsburgh

  Draft Week Special Menu

  Chef RC has developed a draft week menu.This curated menu will only be served from Tuesday, April 21 to Saturday, April 25 – 11:00 AM – 7:00PM. It will feature popular influenced Pittsburgh dishes like Sliced Roast Beef, a Pittsburgh Salad, and a Pittsburgh Platter with pierogis and kielbasa.  Please note: the menu will be served during lunch […]

• April 7, 2026 | Pittsburgh

  Cafe Momentum PGH Impact Report

  As we look ahead, we remain committed to deepening our impact, expanding opportunity, and reshaping the narrative around justice-impacted youth—together. Entering our fourth year, we celebrate not only our organizational growth, but the strength of our young people and the relationships we’ve built across the region. We will continue strengthening our workforce development model, so […]

• April 2, 2026 | IGNITE

  Ignite Newsletter: 2026 April

  By Tristyn, Café Momentum Ambassador Fellow This month, we turn our attention to Second Chance Month. After years of walking alongside youth who have touched the justice system, and after sitting with chapters of my own history, I have grown to believe that a second chance is far more than a phrase we hang on […]