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TOPIC: Café Momentum Pittsburgh · Pittsburgh Sunday Morning

0:03
Speaker 1: And welcome in. This is a public affairs program shedding
0:05
Speaker 1: the light on the interest, issues and concerns of the
0:08
Speaker 1: greater Pittsburgh area. Good morning, My name is Johnny Hartwell.
0:11
Speaker 1: Today's topic is Cafe Momentum and we have their executive
0:14
Speaker 1: director Cheyne Tyler in studio. Good to see you again,
0:18
Speaker 1: How are you?
0:19
Speaker 2: Fantastic's great to see you.
0:20
Speaker 1: And senior director of Development Danielle Grooms, Good to see
0:24
Speaker 1: you again.
0:24
Speaker 2: Good to see you. Happy to be here.
0:26
Speaker 1: All right, So the last time, it's been a couple
0:29
Speaker 1: of months, so it's been probably a busy summer for
0:32
Speaker 1: you guys. Now for people hearing about Cafe Momentum maybe
0:36
Speaker 1: for the first time, what exactly is it? Is it
0:39
Speaker 1: a restaurant or is it something bigger?
0:41
Speaker 3: It is absolutely something bigger than that, Johnny. It is
0:45
Speaker 3: a youth serving organization that focuses on serving young people
0:49
Speaker 3: that have been impacted by the youth legal system. We
0:51
Speaker 3: provide them with holistic wrap around services that includes financial education,
0:56
Speaker 3: mental health education support, but also we provide a paid
0:59
Speaker 3: work ex experience in our full service restaurant which is
1:02
Speaker 3: located downtown Pittsburgh.
1:03
Speaker 2: With a restaurant, it is a restaurant.
1:07
Speaker 1: That's a mission.
1:08
Speaker 3: Absolutely, there's a mission behind it, and it is really
1:10
Speaker 3: about placing value on the young people of our community.
1:14
Speaker 3: Young people between the ages of fifteen and nineteen that
1:17
Speaker 3: need a chance in life, that need an opportunity in
1:20
Speaker 3: a creative and supportive environment to be able to reach
1:23
Speaker 3: their fullest potential.
1:24
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about the genesis of Cafe Momentum.
1:27
Speaker 1: It didn't There's two of them, right, and they didn't
1:30
Speaker 1: start here in Pittsburgh. But the second one is here
1:33
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh.
1:34
Speaker 2: Correct.
1:34
Speaker 3: In fact, there's three of them, with the fourth one
1:36
Speaker 3: on the way.
1:38
Speaker 2: Correct. Our flagship program bubbling.
1:41
Speaker 3: Absolutely, our flagship program is in Dallas, Texas. Atlanta, Georgia
1:46
Speaker 3: exists as well. Denver, Colorado is the next one on
1:49
Speaker 3: the list. But Pittsburgh was the first expansion site in
1:52
Speaker 3: the second Cafe Momentum to exist. We've been here since
1:56
Speaker 3: twenty and twenty three March twenty twenty three, and we
2:00
Speaker 3: have been hitting the pavement role and we have served
2:03
Speaker 3: over two hundred young people. We have many partnerships and communities,
2:07
Speaker 3: and I'll tell you if it wasn't for the community
2:10
Speaker 3: of Pittsburgh and how they have wrapped their arms around
2:13
Speaker 3: not only our young people, but the organization at home,
2:16
Speaker 3: we wouldn't be able to have the impact that we
2:18
Speaker 3: have and be as successful as we have been in
2:20
Speaker 3: the community.
2:20
Speaker 1: But as a storefront your restaurant, you're a full service restaurant.
2:25
Speaker 3: We are full service restaurant. I'll let Danielle talk a
2:27
Speaker 3: little bit about what we do at our restaurant.
2:30
Speaker 4: And that food is good. We have the full service
2:34
Speaker 4: restaurant which also includes events and catering, so our young
2:38
Speaker 4: people also get the experience of what that can look
2:41
Speaker 4: like as a restaurant partner in the hospitality world. But
2:46
Speaker 4: our young people were not training future chefs and unless
2:49
Speaker 4: that's what they want to be, our young people get
2:52
Speaker 4: the chance to dream whatever it is that they want.
2:57
Speaker 4: We offer opportunities to see other areas of interest in
3:03
Speaker 4: our workforce pieces. We have a workforce Rightness Manager that
3:05
Speaker 4: takes our young people to different educational and workforce opportunities.
3:10
Speaker 1: You know, I talk to many nonprofits each and every week,
3:16
Speaker 1: and a lot of times they're asking for help because
3:19
Speaker 1: of fundraising. Well, this is an easy way to support
3:24
Speaker 1: you guys, just by going or doing something that you
3:27
Speaker 1: would probably normally do go out to a restaurant, have
3:31
Speaker 1: a dining experience, and by a result, you're actually helping
3:35
Speaker 1: the community.
3:36
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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Speaker 3: Any patron of our restaurant is a direct investment into
3:40
Speaker 3: our young people. So we are open for lunch, dinner.
3:43
Speaker 3: As Danielle said, we do catering events, events off site
3:47
Speaker 3: as well and on site. That is a direct investment.
3:51
Speaker 3: We are using the restaurant industry to hospitality industry to
3:54
Speaker 3: make sure that our young people have the opportunity to
3:57
Speaker 3: learn skills, but to also apply those skills and grow
4:01
Speaker 3: their confidence. So again a direct investment in what it
4:05
Speaker 3: is that they are seeing and being able to support
4:09
Speaker 3: those things as well. Right, you don't usually get the
4:11
Speaker 3: opportunity to see daily what your investment goes towards, and
4:17
Speaker 3: you really get to see and interact with their young people.
4:20
Speaker 1: All right, So tell us about the dining experience. What
4:22
Speaker 1: kind of menu? What kind of menu items can I expect?
4:25
Speaker 4: Delicious? For one, Chef rc Recreates recreated our menu when
4:31
Speaker 4: he joined the team a year and a half ago,
4:33
Speaker 4: and he changes it seasonally based on what local vendors
4:37
Speaker 4: we like to use as much as possible. But on
4:40
Speaker 4: the lunch menu, you can get a beat some brussels salad.
4:43
Speaker 4: You can get a salmon alt.
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Speaker 2: Is that what it is?
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Speaker 4: Yes? And a burger.
4:50
Speaker 2: This burger.
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Speaker 4: Sanna and I always say when we're having a lunch meeting,
4:54
Speaker 4: we're not getting a burger that is a sit down
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Speaker 4: enjoy your meal. Get a little messy with that burger.
5:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're not having conversation.
5:02
Speaker 4: You are truly just engaged in that burger. It's so good.
5:06
Speaker 4: The short rip on top of the burger. Yes, it's
5:09
Speaker 4: it's unreal. For dinner, you can get your salmon. You
5:12
Speaker 4: can get chicken, mac and cheese. My daughter makes me
5:19
Speaker 4: cater her birthday with chef's mac and cheese. She wrote
5:21
Speaker 4: them a thank you note before I even picked up
5:23
Speaker 4: the mac and cheese from work.
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Speaker 1: All Right, so let's talk a little bit about the
5:27
Speaker 1: you know, catering service, because you know I'm telling you so.
5:32
Speaker 1: If somebody is interested in having a you know, a
5:34
Speaker 1: wedding or maybe a celebration.
5:35
Speaker 4: Reslutely, it runs the gamut on what events folks have
5:39
Speaker 4: hired us for. It can be a lunch meeting of
5:42
Speaker 4: ten that we're making box lunches for, or it could
5:45
Speaker 4: be a large one hundred person event in your home
5:49
Speaker 4: that we're doing full service catering for.
5:52
Speaker 1: Yeah.
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Speaker 3: In addition to that, we really have a lot of
5:54
Speaker 3: nonprofit partners and businesses that are tapping into our corporate opportunity.
6:00
Speaker 3: So if they're coming for board meetings or corporate lunches,
6:04
Speaker 3: we have that space and we want to show that space.
6:07
Speaker 3: And there's a tie to the social responsibility that a
6:09
Speaker 3: lot of businesses and organizations are living up to and
6:14
Speaker 3: ensuring that they're placing value on. So when we're talking
6:17
Speaker 3: about delivery to the office building for you know, as
6:22
Speaker 3: a sandwich ring or something that is reoccurring, those are
6:26
Speaker 3: the things that we want to continue to support or
6:29
Speaker 3: we want to continue to ask we're supporting but continues
6:32
Speaker 3: to support our young people and their learning. Right, So
6:35
Speaker 3: we need people in the seats, and we also need
6:38
Speaker 3: opportunities for our young people to continue to apply those
6:40
Speaker 3: skills that they're learning in the restaurant.
6:42
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about the young people. What should
6:45
Speaker 1: I call them? Are they called interns? Are they called
6:47
Speaker 1: it employees?
6:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're interns.
6:50
Speaker 4: They're working.
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Speaker 1: Okay, your interns have been impacted by the juvenile justice system, correct?
6:56
Speaker 1: And why is the second chance so important.
7:00
Speaker 3: Wow, that's a that's a great question. How many of
7:04
Speaker 3: us have made mistakes in life? How many of us have.
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Speaker 2: Made Oh, I've never made it exactly.
7:11
Speaker 3: And then so you think about young people between the
7:15
Speaker 3: ages of fifteen to nineteen.
7:16
Speaker 2: Their brain is still developing, they are in the.
7:19
Speaker 3: Adolesde and we still make poor decisions at times. So
7:24
Speaker 3: this is really just about ensuring that the community understands
7:28
Speaker 3: and society understands that young people are still growing and
7:32
Speaker 3: it is our obligation to make sure that they have
7:36
Speaker 3: the skills that are necessary to change their their thinking
7:40
Speaker 3: and their decision making. So ensuring that they have that
7:43
Speaker 3: supportive environment is making sure that they then have the
7:46
Speaker 3: opportunity to make different decisions and then take advantage of
7:51
Speaker 3: all of the possibilities and of their potential.
7:53
Speaker 1: Are they obligated to do this?
7:55
Speaker 3: No, they are not Jimmy, nor that will they never be.
7:58
Speaker 3: This is a voluntary program. They are highly encouraged by
8:02
Speaker 3: individuals that are in their life, either system or non
8:05
Speaker 3: system individuals. But we and we have a phenomenal partnership
8:09
Speaker 3: with Alleghany County Juvenile Probation, the Courts Department of Humans, Sarah,
8:13
Speaker 3: that's yeah. So our young people are coming to us,
8:16
Speaker 3: but it is a voluntary program. They ultimately determine, you know,
8:22
Speaker 3: what success looks like for them at Cafe Momentum, and
8:26
Speaker 3: we support them in it. They do not have to
8:29
Speaker 3: be there unless they want to be there, and whenever
8:31
Speaker 3: they are ready to either successfully transition or transition out
8:35
Speaker 3: to find something different, we're going to support them in that.
8:38
Speaker 3: As Danielle said earlier, we are using the restaurant as
8:43
Speaker 3: a vessel to teach skills and to apply those skills.
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Speaker 3: So we're talking conflict resolution, community communication, we are talking
8:51
Speaker 3: about project management, hygiene, hygiene, grooming, leadership, community education. All
9:00
Speaker 3: of those things are transferable no matter what industry or sector.
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Speaker 3: So we're making sure that they have the base level
9:05
Speaker 3: fundamentals to be successful no matter.
9:07
Speaker 1: And the hiring process and what's the training process, Yeah, that's.
9:11
Speaker 2: A great question.
9:12
Speaker 3: So the hiring process is that young people apply and
9:15
Speaker 3: if they have that personal impact within the last twelve
9:18
Speaker 3: months with the Youth Legal system, they are then invited
9:21
Speaker 3: in for an orientation process and in the first six
9:25
Speaker 3: weeks of the orientation we call it the learning phase.
9:27
Speaker 3: We are doing over eighty hours of skill building with
9:31
Speaker 3: our young people. We're getting to know them, we're setting expectations,
9:35
Speaker 3: but they're also getting to know us and starting to
9:38
Speaker 3: build towards and reach those expectations.
9:41
Speaker 2: So we're doing.
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Speaker 3: Family visits, they get a mental health assessment during that time,
9:45
Speaker 3: and then we're really learning and teaching the skills necessary
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Speaker 3: to be successful at Cafe Momental, but any job beyond.
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Speaker 1: Us, right, and so do you teach them different phases
9:55
Speaker 1: of the restaurant process? Do you have like a do
10:00
Speaker 1: they start out in a position and can they grow
10:03
Speaker 1: in that position? As a great question.
10:05
Speaker 4: So when our young people transition over from the learning phase,
10:09
Speaker 4: that's when they start over in the restaurant. There's not
10:11
Speaker 4: a you started expo and then you move to host.
10:14
Speaker 4: It shifts on where you're at. But there are nine
10:17
Speaker 4: different stations that our young people rotate through in the
10:20
Speaker 4: restaurant that they gain skills and competencies in each station.
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Speaker 4: So they are quote unquote tested in those stations, but
10:30
Speaker 4: they are rotating through and gaining the different skills necessary
10:33
Speaker 4: at those stations.
10:35
Speaker 1: Yeah.
10:35
Speaker 3: In addition to that, it's a twelve month program, so
10:38
Speaker 3: young people can be with us for twelve months and
10:41
Speaker 3: it is a tier program as well. So what they
10:43
Speaker 3: are doing is they are progressing through the continuum of learning,
10:48
Speaker 3: and they are going from Tier one and advancing into
10:51
Speaker 3: Tier two, Tier three, tier four, and along the way
10:54
Speaker 3: they are learning again different skills, participating in different activities
10:59
Speaker 3: such as mock inter use, job applications, financial education.
11:04
Speaker 4: All while getting paid. Let's recognize too, that are young
11:07
Speaker 4: people who are with us outside of whether it's the
11:10
Speaker 4: free tutoring and offer mental health access or enrichment and
11:14
Speaker 4: community service opportunities, they're paid anywhere from thirteen to sixteen
11:19
Speaker 4: dollars an hour while they're with us. So when you're
11:21
Speaker 4: dining in the restaurant, when you're donating cafe momentum, when
11:24
Speaker 4: you're getting catering, you're getting our young people paid. Because
11:27
Speaker 4: we're talking about economic mobility for young people who didn't
11:30
Speaker 4: have this opportunity and can't just be in a program
11:33
Speaker 4: learning these skills for free.
11:34
Speaker 1: Let's just it's not viable.
11:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
11:36
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And one of the things that we really value
11:40
Speaker 3: is youth voice. And as a result of youth voice
11:43
Speaker 3: and all of the conversations and the surveys and the
11:46
Speaker 3: data that we are collecting, what we know is that
11:50
Speaker 3: transportation is a major barrier to overcome when it comes
11:54
Speaker 3: to economic mobility. And fortunately, we have had the opportunity
11:58
Speaker 3: to stand up our own education program in the last
12:01
Speaker 3: couple months in partnership with another organization, and our young
12:06
Speaker 3: people are super excited about it. They're spending hours on
12:08
Speaker 3: the driving simulator, They're getting safety rules and regulations, they're
12:12
Speaker 3: learning the law around driving because they're going to drive
12:15
Speaker 3: no matter what right and we want to make sure
12:17
Speaker 3: that when they are driving, they are not only doing
12:19
Speaker 3: it legally, but they are doing it safe and that
12:22
Speaker 3: ultimately increases their economic mobility and opens up a world
12:26
Speaker 3: of opportunities when it comes to job placement or training opportunities.
12:31
Speaker 3: So those are the types of things that we are
12:33
Speaker 3: doing on a daily basis. And you may ask, or
12:35
Speaker 3: the community may wonder, where are you doing all of
12:39
Speaker 3: this at Yes, we have a restaurant, but right next
12:42
Speaker 3: door to our restaurant, we have a community service center
12:45
Speaker 3: and that is where the administrative offices are. But we
12:47
Speaker 3: also have a mental health space, an education space, a
12:50
Speaker 3: flex room, a lounge, a kitchenet for our young people.
12:54
Speaker 3: So they have really created a space that is theirs
12:57
Speaker 3: and a home for those young people to be able
12:59
Speaker 3: to their creative spaces, but also build Cafe Momentum at large.
13:06
Speaker 1: Well, I when I was in college, I worked in
13:09
Speaker 1: something arrest. It was actually catering service, and you you
13:14
Speaker 1: almost become that becomes your your your whole world. Is
13:18
Speaker 1: that that collective people that you hang out with, and
13:22
Speaker 1: so that not only are you learning something individually, but
13:25
Speaker 1: you're learning something collectively as well.
13:27
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely.
13:28
Speaker 3: One of the things that you know, the question that
13:32
Speaker 3: was posed or maybe a challenge that folks believed that
13:36
Speaker 3: we would have at Cafe Momentum was bringing young people
13:41
Speaker 3: from all over the community into a space that had
13:44
Speaker 3: system involvement and if that could or would be safe.
13:48
Speaker 3: And I always say how proud I am to talk
13:51
Speaker 3: about that. We've never had an incident of violence, We've
13:55
Speaker 3: never had a fight. It is really about creating an
13:58
Speaker 3: environment that young people can be safe in, they can explore,
14:02
Speaker 3: and they have the opportunity to be held to a
14:05
Speaker 3: standard and an expectation that they will ultimately meet each other.
14:09
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm talking with Cheyenne Tyler. Cheyenne Tyler and
14:13
Speaker 1: Danielle Grooms of Cafe Momentum Shyan, can you can you
14:17
Speaker 1: offer a story and I'm not asking you the name names,
14:20
Speaker 1: but maybe a success story somebody who who had some
14:23
Speaker 1: issues worked through them and then maybe ultimately moved on
14:27
Speaker 1: to success.
14:28
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, thank you for that. We have many success stories.
14:32
Speaker 3: I will share a story about a young lady that
14:34
Speaker 3: came to us, uh and she had gotten in to
14:38
Speaker 3: some knucklehead behaviors, you know, uh. And she she came
14:43
Speaker 3: to us and she was not going to school, and
14:47
Speaker 3: she she.
14:47
Speaker 2: Didn't have a lot of hope.
14:48
Speaker 3: She didn't have a lot of confidence in what was
14:50
Speaker 3: going on in her life. She had some troubles going
14:53
Speaker 3: on at home. And I'll tell you she had a
14:55
Speaker 3: mouth of a sailor. She just was all I mean,
14:58
Speaker 3: it was working on. It is so much better. And
15:03
Speaker 3: now today we still engage. In fact, I'm meeting with
15:07
Speaker 3: her later. She is not only an ambassador for Cafe Momentum.
15:11
Speaker 3: She successfully completed our program. She graduated high school and
15:16
Speaker 3: is now enrolled in CCAC nursing program. She has obtained
15:22
Speaker 3: her driver's license, and she says to me all the time,
15:26
Speaker 3: I want to come back. This is my family, and
15:28
Speaker 3: I want to tell young people how important it is
15:31
Speaker 3: just to stay in it. We call her for special events.
15:34
Speaker 3: We connected her with an employer partner, and she is
15:37
Speaker 3: working at that employer but also has another job, so
15:41
Speaker 3: she's working two jobs, in school, is trying to buy
15:44
Speaker 3: a car, and we stay connected with her. So I
15:47
Speaker 3: would say that that leader.
15:50
Speaker 4: I mean, that's That's the other piece of this is
15:53
Speaker 4: you know you talked about there being this this family
15:56
Speaker 4: when you were working. That's exactly true for our young
15:59
Speaker 4: people who are coming in and these cohorts, you build
16:02
Speaker 4: that camaraderie with each other, and you hold each other accountable,
16:05
Speaker 4: and you get a sense of leadership when the next
16:07
Speaker 4: cohort comes in and you get to you get to
16:09
Speaker 4: be that person for them.
16:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's not all about it is all about
16:14
Speaker 3: growth and skill building and creating community. But we also
16:19
Speaker 3: make sure our young people have fun. Our young people
16:21
Speaker 3: have the way the weight of the world on them,
16:25
Speaker 3: be it systems or family dysfunctions or you know, some
16:30
Speaker 3: traumas that they've dealt with, some mental health needs, not
16:32
Speaker 3: all but most right, but we make sure that they
16:35
Speaker 3: have fun when they come to us. So a couple
16:38
Speaker 3: of days ago to end the summer program, our program
16:42
Speaker 3: team were able to take our young people up to
16:45
Speaker 3: Marine State Park and do paddle boarding and have kind
16:48
Speaker 3: of like an end of the year celebration. And there
16:51
Speaker 3: was some there was some resistance in the beginning, and
16:53
Speaker 3: I said, look, guys, just just go and see right,
16:57
Speaker 3: see what the experience is. So we really like to
16:59
Speaker 3: not own only give them skills or create opportunity for
17:03
Speaker 3: them to learn skills, but to also enrich their lives
17:05
Speaker 3: by ensuring that they just can have fun.
17:07
Speaker 1: What is something that surprises people when they dine at
17:10
Speaker 1: Cafe Momentum for the first time, Maybe.
17:13
Speaker 4: One that the food is incredibly good. A lot of
17:17
Speaker 4: folks come in saying like, oh, I great, I want
17:19
Speaker 4: to support this mission. Didn't expect the meal to be
17:22
Speaker 4: so incredible. Or they get to meet our young people.
17:26
Speaker 4: They've met a young person once before, and then they
17:28
Speaker 4: see them in that same role four weeks later, and
17:31
Speaker 4: they're like, oh my god, the confidence that you've gained.
17:34
Speaker 4: You can see it, you can feel it. It's palpable.
17:36
Speaker 2: Yeah.
17:36
Speaker 3: And what I will add to that is that we
17:39
Speaker 3: have a beautiful restaurant, We have a beautiful setting, and
17:42
Speaker 3: when folks come in, they see our young people doing
17:45
Speaker 3: the work. They see exactly what we are doing, what
17:50
Speaker 3: the training is, what training has taking place. They can
17:53
Speaker 3: look back into the kitchen and see our young people
17:55
Speaker 3: on saltee and grill, and they are also experiencing our
17:58
Speaker 3: young people at the door as a girl and serving
18:01
Speaker 3: them as well.
18:02
Speaker 4: You don't just have to listen to this conversation. You
18:03
Speaker 4: can go, you can experience out.
18:07
Speaker 1: We only have a couple of minutes left. So what
18:09
Speaker 1: is something that we didn't cover that you want people
18:11
Speaker 1: to know about Cafe Momentum.
18:15
Speaker 4: Well, outside of catering, thinking of the holidays, I think
18:18
Speaker 4: that matters folks who are planning any sort of holiday party,
18:21
Speaker 4: you can do it with our food or in our space.
18:23
Speaker 4: We rent out that space as well. We on our website.
18:26
Speaker 4: We have an event coming up at church View Farms,
18:30
Speaker 4: which is a ticketed annual, pretty small event that those
18:35
Speaker 4: tickets sell out really quick. So that's another opportunity to
18:39
Speaker 4: be engaged with us. And October is Youth Justice Action Month,
18:42
Speaker 4: So being engaged with us and not only eating our
18:44
Speaker 4: food during that time before and after, but learning about
18:49
Speaker 4: what we're offering during that month.
18:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, and lastly I would just add businesses and corporations.
18:55
Speaker 3: When you're thinking about team building and team launches and meetings, audition,
19:00
Speaker 3: alter cater we will be your people and you will
19:03
Speaker 3: be pleasantly surprised.
19:05
Speaker 1: Chyanne Tyler and Danielle Grooms of Cafe Momentum. Always a pleasure.
19:09
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, fantastic thanks for having us. We
19:11
Speaker 3: appreciate you as always.
19:13
Speaker 1: If you have any comments, a concern, or an idea
19:15
Speaker 1: for our future program, please email us from this radio
19:18
Speaker 1: station's website. I'm Johnny Heartwell, thank you so much for listening.