Restaurant Doubles as a Nonprofit to Mentor, Train Yustice-Involved Youth

A Dallas restaurant that doubles as a nonprofit professional training facility for kids impacted by the juvenile justice system is a living example of its motto, “Eat, drink, change lives.”

Chad Houser, owner of Café Momentum, told “Good Morning America” he created “a movement to change the model for youth justice.”

“This team is here to make sure you guys are successful — and that you feel like you’re being set up for success,” Houser said, speaking directly to the young people in his program.

The culinary-trained chef first got the idea in 2008 after a visit to teach several young men in juvenile detention how to make ice cream.

“The moment that I met these eight young men, I felt an incredible sense of shame because I realized that I had stereotyped them,” Houser said. “I remember seeing eight bright-eyed, happy, excited young men. Every single one of them looked me in the eye when they spoke to me. Every single one of them called me ‘sir.'”

He continued, “I sat down with my business partner and just said, I need to walk the talk. It’s one thing to tell these young people that you believe in them. It’s something very different to prove it.”

Houser eventually opened Café Momentum’s doors in 2015, to mentor through its restaurant training program justice-involved youth like I’munique Liggens, who joined the program at 15.

Full article: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/restaurant-doubles-nonprofit-mentor-train-justice-involved-youth-101946873