Tucked inside The Garden, a 52,000-square-foot community center at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church’s Gethsemane Campus, an immersive culinary classroom serves as a launching pad for young adults who are out of work and out of school.

At the PX Cafe, which officially opened last summer at 6856 Bellaire Blvd. in the Southwest Management District, “fellows” ages 18 to 24 are earning money running a cafe, gaining all of the transferable skills built into such a space, while also working on things like financial literacy, interviewing skills, resume building and more.

“We are incredibly lucky to have such an amazing space,” said PX Project Executive Director Meredith Davis. “We’re still working to spread the word that we live here!”

Dr. Tom Pace, senior pastor at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, led an effort in 2019 to raise money for a new project to expand on the congregation’s community service missions. After months of research, a church committee landed on the idea of bringing a workforce development program to Houston.

“People learn by doing,” says PX Project Executive Chef Adam Garcia.

And he should know. Garcia has worked at some of Houston’s best restaurants, including Revival Market, Coltivare and the former Pass & Provisions.

The summer before the church broke ground on the space where the PX Cafe is now located, Garcia said a state-of-the-art kitchen would allow the program to expand its cohort size, while the attached cafe would provide the opportunity for real-world training.

“In the beginning stages of PX Project, especially during the pandemic when we started, the whole world was in a time of uncertainty. To see what it has become today still brings me to a place of gratitude and a sense of accomplishment,” Garcia said. “I couldn’t be more proud of what we have become today and have never been more excited about our future.”

Davis said the fellows who work the cafe are primarily from Southwest Houston. The organization had 49 applicants for the current cohort with funding for only 10.

“We plan to take at least 10 in our next cohort beginning in January but would love to find funding for more. We’re ready for it as soon as we can afford it,” Davis said.

The nonprofit got a boost recently when James Beard Award winner and Southern Smoke Foundation founder Chris Shepherd served as a guest chef for a “Family Meal” fundraiser for the PX Project.

In the French restaurant industry, the term PX is used to describe VIP customers — “personnes extraordinaire”— extraordinary people meant to be shown extra care.

Generally speaking, the PX Project fellows have graduated high school, are not attending college and need to enter the workforce.

“The narrative usually goes that these young people are perfect for trade school — and many of them are — but the challenge there is that you must be ready to choose a trade,” Davis said. “Without any experience, background knowledge or understanding of the work, you must pick a path. … The opportunity to explore, which many of us get to experience in college, is deleted.”

The PX Project provides a bridge.

In addition to running the cafe, fellows have two opportunities to shadow a career field they’re interested in, giving them the chance to see it and feel it before jumping into a certification process.

After 18 weeks at the PX Cafe, the fellows graduate and become alumni. “We have young people heading in many directions. Just over 40 percent continue in culinary and hospitality. Other graduates have gone on to work in fields like HVAC, building maintenance, early childhood education, digital marketing, with some choosing to go back to school,” Davis said.

“Our measure for success isn’t just getting a job,” she continued. “They don’t really need us for that. We want to help them look further ahead and begin asking themselves where they want to go and then map out a plan of how to get there.”

The community can support the PX Project mission by visiting the cafe, ordering food to-go, donating to the program directly or even shopping for holiday gifts.

Dec. 4 through Dec. 20, the PX Project will be selling jars of homemade food items including salsas, mustard, olive tapenade and even bourbon cherries. Learn more at https://www.pxproject.org/homemadeholidays.

PX Project + PX Cafe
The Garden
6856 Bellaire Blvd., Building 5

For menu, hours and to-go ordering, visit:

https://www.pxproject.org/pxcafe

— Dorothy Puch Lillig