Who we are:
Café Hope is a nonprofit culinary arts and life skills program for opportunity youth ages 17-23 throughout the Westbank area. Café Hope was established in 2010 with a goal to meet the needs of the opportunity youth population so they can further themselves along the path to self-sufficiency and have fulfilling futures as valuable and contributing members of their community.
What we believe:
Café Hope is committed to providing opportunity youth throughout the Westbank area with tools needed to enter the real world—and succeed. As a faith-based organization rooted in our nonprofit restaurant, we’ve created an establishment designed for full-service culinary training partnered with life skills courses that gives students the confidence to have fulfilling futures as leaders in their community.
How we work:
Café Hope’s 16-week program consists of real-life culinary job training—both front-of-house and back-of-house—where students develop skills they can bring to any job in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Cafe Hope recognizes that there is more to self-sufficiency than job skill development. Because of this, students first participate in intensive life skills classes—including financial literacy, dressing for success, nutrition and spirituality—and devote significant time to education.
Café Hope’s nonprofit restaurant features locally-sourced, seed-to-table dishes, supports local farmers and uses fresh seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. As the only seed-to-table restaurant on New Orleans’ Westbank, Café Hope has created a community garden—just outside of the restaurant—that provides much of the produce used in the restaurant’s dishes each day. With support from Café Hope staff and volunteers, the garden continues to grow and provide the organization with high quality, healthy produce.
