In an effort to solve North Texas’ old social problems such as poverty and illiteracy, one of the area’s largest fundraising organizations hopes to invest in young nonprofits, social entrepreneurs and startups to come up with new solutions. United Way has titled the initiative the GroundFloor.

“I’m excited about the change in culture this brings,” said Jennifer Sampson, president and chief executive of United Way of Metropolitan Dallas. “It allows us to be more flexible and nimble to solve community problems.”

The United Way announced the initiative this month and awarded its first grant to Cafe Momentum, a restaurant and culinary training program for at-risk youths. Applications for the fall 2013 batch of grants open July 1 and are due Sept. 3.

Historically, United Way has been known for funding organizations with a record of results and years of experience. The GroundFloor is targeted at ideas and groups that wouldn’t typically qualify for those grants.

Each grantee will also gain mentors as part of the United Way network and connect with established nonprofits and corporations that have already committed to United Way’s end-of-the-decade goals. By 2020, the organization hopes to prepare 60 percent of high school graduates for higher education, pull 250,000 people out of poverty and improve health in North Texas.

Chad Houser, chef and executive director for Cafe Momentum, said he thought his goal to help at-risk youth learn culinary and life skills was a “pipe dream.”

“When you start with an idea, when you say, ‘I want to open up a restaurant with juvenile delinquents and let them play with knives and fire,’ people think you’re crazy,” Houser said.

His work with the young men started about two years ago with highly publicized pop-up dinners at local restaurants. Cafe Momentum has been working exclusively with the juveniles in the Dallas County Youth Village with help from the nonprofit Youth Village Resources of Dallas.

The startup has been garnering attention from philanthropists and food lovers, with its dinners consistently selling out. The group is raising money to open up its own restaurant, and United Way’s grant will help achieve that goal, Houser said.

“They approached us,” Houser said. “I thought, holy cow, United Way is calling. It might as well have been Barack Obama on the phone. It’s very validating.”

The value of Cafe Momentum, according to Sampson, is that young men not only learn a skill but also receive the support and nurturing from Houser and the other adults who work with them.

The GroundFloor initiative continues a recent pattern of United Way working with corporate partners to invest in social services in North Texas. The past few United Way fundraising campaign chairs have been chief executives of major corporations such as AT&T and Texas Instruments.

Sampson said earlier this year that the experience these business leaders bring to the organization is “immeasurable.”

The foundation for the GroundFloor was established by AT&T with a $100,000 contribution last year.

Dana Brown, who heads the GroundFloor initiative, said the fund attracts different investors to United Way who are more tolerant of risk, but also want to get involved in a different way than just writing a check.

By connecting organizations like Cafe Momentum to mentors and the United Way network, startups’ success is given a jump-start. The condition is that the ideas or startups must be focused on tackling the bold goals of United 2020.

“We spend time with them, working on their business plan,” Brown said. “It’s more than financial support. We help them plug into the community. We want to set them up for success.”