Perhaps City of Refuge’s most prominent outreach program, the Forge for Families, Inc., was formed in 2005 when Inner City Youth, a longtime outreach in Houston’s Third Ward, merged with the Refuge Community Development Center, a community-support program aimed primarily at young adults and single parents and affiliated with the City of Refuge.  

A 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, the Forge focuses on services for entire families, rather than just young people.

The Forge attracts children and youth through year-round sports programs, after-school care, tutoring, one-on-one mentoring, college prep and computer literacy classes. For adults, the center offers an intensive adult  life-skills program called Career Flight that seeks to move unemployed and underemployed adults into gainful, fulfilling careers, in addition to Monarchs, a support group for ex-offenders. The Forge also offers 12-step recovery groups, crisis counseling, and parenting classes.  

Our hope at COR is that each member of a family will find something of value here and that we can help build strong families who will in turn strengthen and transform their own community.