OUR
MISSION
Café Momentum’s mission is to transform young lives by equipping our community’s most at-risk youth with life skills, education and employment opportunities to help them achieve their full potential.
WHO
WE SERVE
Working alongside the Juvenile Justice Department, Café Momentum strives to teach our country’s youth that it is possible to break the cycle of incarceration and violence that many of our youth have faced. We focus on creating environments for youth, ages 15-19, where they can gain self-confidence and learn marketable skills to ensure a more successful future.
PROGRAM | THE MOMENTUM MODEL
Café Momentum is a nonprofit restaurant that provides a 12-month paid internship program for justice-involved youth. The internship starts with a 2-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 youth, who the juvenile justice system has referred to as “throw-aways” are now employed, tax-paying, wholly contributing members of society.
FELLOWSHIP
Ruthies Fueled by Café Momentum serves as an extension of Café Momentum’s mission to provide justice-involved youth another opportunity for job training, employment and mentorship opportunities. This partnership gives Dallas-based interns who have completed a 12-month internship at Café Momentum the opportunity to expand their professional development via a fellowship at Ruthie’s Food Truck. These partners provide employment and training to expand the training, counseling and curriculum that our program offers.
