The nonprofit café at 2922 Central St. has put more than 600 young people ages 15 to 24 through a 500-hour paid training program since founder Susan Trieschmann opened its doors in 2012, according to a Christian Science Monitor profile published June 22.

Less than 5% of Curt's Café participants who had been previously incarcerated have returned to prison, the Monitor reported. For comparison, the national recidivism rate exceeds 80% within 10 years of release, per the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, though the café's figure covers a shorter track record since the program launched in 2012.

Trainees facing homelessness, prior arrests, or food insecurity learn to cook, run a cash register, manage conflict, and build a résumé. A social worker connects them with housing and education resources. Students also take field trips to trade schools and colleges.

"Our students can always come back," executive director Tanya Jenkins told the Monitor. "It doesn't matter when they complete the program. They've got a place at Curt's."

Café manager Bri Consalvo described the flexibility staff extend to trainees still navigating unstable housing. When a student arrives late after clearly sleeping on a train, she said, staff tell them to rest on the couch and get them breakfast before starting work.

Dallas Wright, assistant director of Northwestern University's Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science, said programs like Curt's succeed because of their "very targeted, very high investment in personal relationships" and ability to meet participants' needs comprehensively.

Trieschmann, who left the nonprofit in 2022, originally funded the café by taking out a second mortgage on her home after failing to find investors. A second location opened in Highland Park in 2019.

Brian, a 19-year-old trainee whose last name was withheld for privacy, found the program through Connections for the Homeless after months sleeping on friends' sofas following an arrest. He is now compiling a cookbook and plans to complete a culinary program after graduating.

Curt's Café is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2922 Central St.