ECONOMIC VITALITY

At Connect Community, we recognize that building wealth and achieving financial stability starts with access to training, upskilling, and meaningful employment opportunities.

Gulfton’s residents are industrious and hardworking. According to the Kinder Institute, 73% of residents participate in the labor force, with many balancing multiple jobs.

Strategy

Connect is working to provide newcomers with a continuum of training, career pathways and employment in the neighborhood.

As residents build skills, gain confidence in English and digital literacy in the neighborhood, they are well-positioned to secure future employment across the broader Houston area when they are ready.

This neighborhood-based approach creates resident-centered career pathways tailored to the needs of newcomer families.

For many newcomer women—often primary caregivers balancing family, cultural, and economic obligations—traditional employment just doesn’t fit. That’s why Connect is building a pipeline of neighborhood-based, flexible work opportunities that meet women where they are.

At the heart of this effort is Fabric Forge (formerly HTX Sewn Goods), a first-of-its-kind textile manufacturing hub and training center in Houston, opening in Summer 2025. Fabric Forge equips women with hands-on experience in soft goods production, entrepreneurship, and digital literacy—while also providing on-site childcare and English classes to remove common barriers to participation.

By 2028, this ecosystem will expand to include an Early Learning Center and adult training facility, enabling even more women to support their families, grow their careers, and shape the future of their community.

Connect’s small business services provide entrepreneurs with the tools and opportunities to grow their businesses through personalized coaching, affordable leases at Fabric Forge’s Micro-Retail spaces, and seed funding in some cases—all within their community. For job seekers, our dedicated Job Coordinator offers one-on-one support to help residents build resumes, prepare for interviews, and access new opportunities through job fairs and direct connections to employers.

Together, these resources create a foundation for long-term economic stability and local prosperity—ensuring that whether residents are launching a business or looking for meaningful employment, they have the support they need to succeed.

DATA

$34,000

$34,000 is the average median household income (for Newcomers here less than three years, average median income is $24,000)

83%

83% of employed residents work for a company and 7.4% are self employed in a registered or unincorporated business.

27

Working residents travel an average of 27 minutes to work.

PROGRESS

The $2.8 MM capital campaign for the Textile Lab & Entrepreneurship Center is almost fully funded and will open in 2025 providing classes, workshops and events

Micro Retail Spaces will be leased to entrepreneurs looking to sandbox their business concept.

Plans are underway to develop an early learning center and training facility to assist residents with obtaining jobs in education.

INITIATIVES

Job Coaching

Small Business Coaching & Retail Incubation

HTX Sewn Goods

Shops@Connect Highstar

Upwardly Global

RESOURCES

NEWS & EVENTS

‘THIS FEELS LIKE HARVEY’: HOUSTON VOLUNTEERS HELP MAKE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

The Virus Found a Crowded Houston Neighborhood, Sparing One Nearby (NYT)

FROM MAKING MATTRESSES TO MASKS, HOUSTON FURNITURE BANK STEPS UP DURING COVID-19 CRISIS

HOUSTON NON-PROFIT, CONNECT COMMUNITY, LAUNCHES SEWN GOODS COLLABORATIVE DURING COVID-19 CRISIS