Chef Chad Houser, founder and CEO of Café Momentum, was honored by the James Beard Foundation with the Humanitarian of the Year Award for his work creating a nonprofit restaurant that offers paid internships and comprehensive support to formerly incarcerated teens. The award, which Houser received in 2025, recognized his dedication to a unique model that provides culinary training alongside vital resources for young individuals aged 15 to 19.
Café Momentum's 12-month paid internships immerse participants in all aspects of restaurant operations, from the kitchen to the dining room. The program extends beyond culinary skills, offering interns access to case managers who connect them with academic support, mental health services, parenting classes, and job-attainment planning. This holistic approach aims to reduce recidivism, with Café Momentum interns demonstrating a one-year rearrest rate of 15%, a significant decrease compared to the roughly 50% rate for similar demographics in Texas.
Houser began his work with justice-involved youth in 2008, volunteering to teach ice cream making at the Dallas County Juvenile Department. These early experiences inspired him to create a stable environment for young people, leading to pop-up dinners featuring formerly incarcerated youth and professional chefs. This initiative evolved into the founding of Café Momentum in 2015.
Today, Café Momentum operates restaurants in Dallas, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh, with plans for a Denver location in 2026. The organization is also set to open an 11,000-square-foot training center in Dallas in 2027, funded by $10 million in private donations. More than 1,700 teenagers have completed the program to date. Houser maintains that the quality of the food and service is paramount, serving as the initial message of the restaurant's commitment to excellence and the potential of its interns. He emphasizes that success is achieved when investment in tools, resources, and opportunities aligns with setting high expectations for the participants.