[DALLAS, TX], September 22, 2020 – Today Stand Together Foundation and catalyst partner Café Momentum announced the launch of Momentum Advisory Co. (M.A.C.), a parent company built to support scale efforts to take Café Momentum's nonprofit restaurant model nationwide. Stand Together Foundation invested $1.9 million to support the launch of M.A.C., which will build programs that expand opportunity and enable system-involved youth to reach their full potential with the holistic support of the communities they serve.
"We have seen the powerful difference it makes when communities come together to support the holistic needs of our country's most marginalized youth," said Chad Houser, founder, CEO, and executive chef of Café Momentum. "Our partnership with Stand Together Foundation continues to empower us to expand our mission to transform millions of lives and reshape how our country thinks about juvenile justice. We have a model to provide youth exiting juvenile detention facilities the support they need to truly thrive. And now we are excited to put in the work to tailor local solutions to other communities around the country."
Momentum Advisory Co. got its start with Café Momentum, a nonprofit restaurant and culinary training facility based in Dallas, Texas, that provides employment, life skills training, and wraparound care to youth exiting juvenile detention facilities and is now looking to expand the successful model to cities nationwide.
Café Momentum is a member of Stand Together Foundation's Catalyst Network, a select group of 300+ top-performing nonprofits across the country capable of societal-level change when it comes to breaking the cycle of poverty in America.
WATCH CAFÉ MOMENTUM FOUNDER CHAD HOUSER DISCUSS CAFÉ MOMENTUM ON GOOD MORNING AMERICA.
Evan Feinberg, executive director of Stand Together Foundation added: "Café Momentum is an organization with inspiring leadership and a transformative vision rooted in a deep belief in people. With a recidivism rate nearly three times lower than the Texas average, Café Momentum is demonstrating there is a better way to support our nation's system-involved youth: by creating a community of support providing interns the time and resources to identify their passions and talents and learn ways to apply them. We are committed to helping Café Momentum and M.A.C. reach as many people as possible, transforming lives and changing the way the country approaches juvenile justice."
Café Momentum is one of many social entrepreneur-led organizations whose impact Stand Together Foundation has helped grow. Since becoming a member of the Catalyst Community in 2017, Café Momentum has served more than 1,000 youth in the Dallas area and through pop-up restaurant events in Los Angeles, Nashville, and Miami. These pop-up events brought the Players Coalition to the table, and Momentum Advisory Co. has expanded the relationship during the pandemic through a virtual dinner series between the youth of Café Momentum, Players Coalition and leaders in juvenile justice from across the country. These intimate events educate the youth on their civil rights while also giving the players access to real life stories that inspire their work in social and juvenile justice.
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About Stand Together Foundation:
Stand Together Foundation is breaking the cycle of poverty by supporting the creative solutions of individuals and communities around the country. Our goal is to help effective, high-performing social entrepreneurs maximize impact—to help them help more—by bringing a business-like approach to the social sector. The result is a vetted Catalyst Network of some of the most highly effective and top-performing non-profits in the U.S. that are helping people in poverty transform their lives. Learn more at StandTogetherFoundation.org.
About the Momentum Advisory Collective:
Momentum Advisory Collective envisions a country where the basic and socioemotional needs of our youth are met; a country that understands that when a child undergoes trauma, they need support, not incarceration; a country whose communities come together to support this vision. We believe that this can be a reality for young people nationwide. Momentum Advisory Co. is building clear pathways out of incarceration so today's most at-risk youth have access to resources, opportunity, and trauma-informed support such that they and their future generations can thrive, not just survive. momentumadvisory.co.
About Café Momentum
Café Momentum, a Dallas-based restaurant and culinary training facility, transforms 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. cafemomentum.org.
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