Restaurant doubles as a nonprofit to mentor, train justice-involved youth

By Kelly McCarthy

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.

VIDEO: How Dallas chef helps youth with his restaurant

"I was faced with many challenges -- one of them being having to provide for my family," Liggens told "GMA."

Café Momentum gave her a 12-month paid internship that allowed her to support her family while learning professional skills and gaining a community.

"I felt relieved because I knew that I wasn't the only one trying to find financial stability," she said. "Café Momentum was more than just a job -- somebody gave me a reason to keep on going."

Liggen added that "without Café Momentum, I wouldn't be where I am today."

New interns like Isiah and Ahseya said the program helps give them purpose.

"They want to see see you get up and go spread your wings and kind of see where you can go," Isiah said. "They gave me another chance to get back on my feet."

"I feel like I'm just bettering myself every day," Ahseya added. "Because when I walk through the door, it feels like I have a purpose."

The program also offers mental health services and has an in-house school.

"We built this school so that they can come here during the morning. And then when they get out of school, they go to work. We want them choosing both," education manager Merry Watson told "GMA."

Houser, who plans to bring Café Momentum nationwide, told "GMA" he's learned "more than I could ever repay them for" from the youth he's helped over the years.

"Our young people, we use the word overcomers. To be resilient is to work through something. To overcome something is to own it," he explained. "To see them go from the labels and stereotypes that society has placed on them to becoming the individual they were born to be is really powerful to experience."

Through the power of breaking bread and bringing different parts of the community together, Houser said it "empowers the community to understand that they can be the change."

He also said that the program support from the community level "sends a message to those young people that they matter and that they believe in them. And that allows our young people to really go from a life of survival to a life of thriving."

To help Houser pursue his passion creating a national youth development system, "GMA" surprised him live on Wednesday with a donation check for $10,000.

"We're on 'Good Morning America' today with over 1,000 young people hearing the country telling them they believe in them ... I can't even put into words, it's incredible," he said.