Dallas cafe hires foster youth after they age out of the system

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/CBSDFW)

published 19 March 2020

Ciara Morton found a family at the La La Land Kind Cafe in Dallas.

Morton became a foster kid after suffering abuse at home. When she turned 18 and aged out of Texas' foster care system, she didn't have anywhere to go, but found hope at La La Land. "We're not in the business of coffee — we're definitely in the business of kindness," owner Francois Reihani told CBS News.

Reihani founded La La Land after learning about the struggles that former foster kids go through; in 2019, more than 1,200 Texas youth aged out of the system, and many became homeless. "Imagine being 18 and literally having no one and going out and being alone," Reihani said. He explained that he believes "we have a duty to our society to help the ones who are in need," and opened the cafe with the goal of hiring former foster kids and teaching them skills to help them now and in the future.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox