17 June 15 - 21, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents 10250 Shady Trail • 214.358.5511 • babydolls.com Come watch all the baseball action with us! THE LEGEND LIVES ON® THE LEGEND LIVES ON® check out our new kitchen daily buffet Mon-fri 11aM-2PM stadiuM buffet Monday-Friday 4PM-10PM SaT 11aM-10PM • Sun 12PM-10PM Brian is another current intern. He’s 17 and is wearing Houndstooth chef pants and a white snap-up chef’s shirt. He joined the internship program in 2021; he was out for a while but returned and is on schedule to graduate later this year. “They’ve taught me a lot about my atti- tude,” Brian says. “And to own up to my do- ings and what I have done. Mostly, they teach me how to be a great person when I leave this place.” Brian, who is from Dallas, says these days he still has ups and downs, but he’s reacting to the downs differently. “When me and the managers get into it and stuff like that — we’ve got our difficulties, we bump heads and stuff like that — they just tell me to own up to my doings,” he says. Before service one evening, the restaurant is empty of customers as the staff and interns prep. The doors then swing wide open and two other interns slink in. There’s a round of applause. A manager rolling silverware into napkins jokes about them showing up. The young men are embarrassed and smile but quickly head to the back of the restaurant. On another visit, as an intern is leaving for the evening, he makes his way to the front-of-house staff and tells them each goodnight, sometimes getting a hug along with a goodbye. Brian sees his work here — owning it — paying off. When he gets frustrated he, like Carlos, talks to Kenneth while washing dishes in the back of the house. “He’s there for me. He helps me calm down, talks to me and asks me what’s wrong. Maybe he sits me outside so I calm down, so I can get back to work and just go on.” The customers are important too. Brian says at first he was wary of talking to those who came to dine. A manager worked with him, demonstrating how to introduce himself and explain the program. Brian learned to en- joy the interactions, and his confidence grew. Now he trains new interns on the process, ex- plaining what they need to cover before telling them, “Just say it in your own words now.” P orshia Haymon, a clinical psychologist, has worked at Cafe Momentum for four years. She originally signed up to volun- teer but was so impressed with the concept she quickly joined the staff and is the chief programs officer. She oversees all activities outside the restaurant. Haymon’s goal is to make sure all the in- terns are prepared for life as if they’d never been involved in the justice system. That in- cludes needs like acquiring identification, learning how to participate in a job inter- view or creating a résumé and applying for college. But she points to interactions with customers as an important aspect of the learning curve here. “There’s so much to learn from simple exposure,” Haymon says. “Interns are ex- posed not only to different people and dif- ferent experiences, but they’re exposed to different reactions from people.” The success of the program is tangible in an arena where victories are hard-won. “This is a win,” Haymon says. “This is a win because each and every one of these young people choose to come here. They’re not court-mandated. It’s a win that Carlos thought he wasn’t going to graduate and he did.” Haymon says a mind shift is important in disrupting the trajectory: Not going back to jail is not a win. “That’s not the norm for my 15-year-old daughter, so why should it be for these kids?” Haymon points to the small triumphs that bring the big wins together, like being able to go to a job interview and get the job. “It’s a win every time they see themselves being successful, regardless of how small that is,” she says. There are big triumphs as well. All of the interns are enrolled in high school, have grad- uated or have earned their GED. More than 85% have completed or were in compliance with court orders. All have bank accounts, and 85% voluntarily receive counseling. “They get a little glimpse. And then they get interaction with people that work here and people that eat here. They get respect. And then they’re like, ‘Oh, OK, I do have a place here,’” Haymon says. Joey Orduña Hastings, CEO of NCJFCJ, says that once his organization had learned about the success of Café Momen- tum, giving Houser the award was non-ne- gotiable. The group’s personnel work with nonprofits around the country, but the dif- ferentiator they see here is the licensed and talented professionals and their per- sonal investment and visible dedication to the interns’ success. Hastings points to Houser’s initial judg- ment of the eight young men and how he learned from that, how he was able to evolve his thinking. That, she says, is key in creat- ing a successful program. Now, she receives calls from across the country from people who want to open a Café Momentum in their city. Houser wants to continue the conversa- tion about a new model for youth justice. “What Dallas has proven,” Houser says, “is that taking the same young people that are entering a system that is not designed to support them, or to help them achieve their full potential in life, gets the same results over and over. We have built a different model that provides support, resources, op- portunities, compassion, love and grace. And we’re getting very different results. And it’s not rocket science.” Kathy Tran Brian feels his work—both physical and mental— at Café Momentum is paying off.
