Dallas Café Cooks Up Second Chances for Young Offenders

Chad Houser is about to open a restaurant that takes kids released from jail and teaches them to play with knives and fire, sparking a passion and a purpose for their new lives.

Bolstered by $1 million in crowdfunding and traditional donations, the Dallas chef is set to open his Café Momentum downtown in December, with a staff composed mainly of boys and young men who previously served time at a detention facility for nonviolent juvenile offenders.

”I’ve been told every reason why it won’t work, everything from ‘these kids will never show up, these kids can’t cook this food, restaurants constantly fail’… over and over and over and over again,” said Houser in his promotional video. “Someone has to believe in these kids. Might as well be me!”

The cafe’s tag line is: Eat, Drink, Save Lives.

– WATCH the inspiring video below

– READ the story from CS Monitor’s Making A Difference

 

Featured Photo by Santon J. Stephens via Cafe Momentum