Chef Chad Houser was a rising star in the Dallas restaurant scene, but after volunteering with kids in the criminal justice system, he felt a calling to do more. He gave up his job to start Cafe Momentum, a restaurant staffed by kids from the criminal justice system. They’re given year-long paid internships where they are taught the skills to succeed in restaurants and society. It’s his way of trying to fix the problems with the criminal justice system.
And it works: while about half of the kids released from jail in Texas end up back there within a year, 85% of the kids who come through Cafe Momentum never go back.