What We Do

The City of Refuge Foundation (COR Foundation) is a Crosby-area charitable organization committed to strengthening families and expanding opportunities for youth through education, exposure, community partnerships, and access to resources. The Foundation's work has evolved into several interconnected initiatives designed to help young people envision their futures while helping families build stronger, healthier, and more sustainable communities. Public nonprofit records also identify the City of Refuge Foundation as a charitable organization based at 13000 Crosby Lynchburg Road in Crosby.

College Tours and College Readiness. One of the Foundation's signature youth initiatives is its college-tour program. COR has already supported two college-tour experiences and is now preparing for its third annual tour for the 2026–2027 school year. Board correspondence shows that planning is underway for the next tour, including recruitment, communications, fundraising, and using the Back-to-School Retreat to introduce the opportunity to students and families. The program is designed to give students—particularly those who may have limited exposure to higher education—the opportunity to visit college campuses, experience campus life, explore academic and career possibilities, and begin seeing college as an attainable next step.

Back-to-School Retreat. COR also supports the annual Back-to-School Retreat, providing students with an opportunity to prepare academically, socially, and personally for the new school year. The retreat serves not only as a back-to-school activity but also as an important connection point between students, families, mentors, and other COR programs. The Foundation's 2026 correspondence specifically shows the retreat being used to introduce students and families to the upcoming third annual college tour, creating continuity between COR's programs rather than treating them as isolated events.

Community Gardens and Community Partnerships. COR's community-development efforts include work surrounding a community garden initiative developed through collaboration with Crosby ISD and Texas A&M. Foundation correspondence dating back to 2023 documents meetings among COR representatives, Crosby ISD personnel, and Texas A&M regarding the community-garden proposal. This work reflects the Foundation's broader interest in initiatives that combine education, community engagement, sustainability, and opportunities for families and young people.

Summer 2026 Youth Technology Program. During summer 2026, the Foundation also became involved with the County Connections / Kino-X DIVE Digital Futures Challenge, an innovative four-week youth program. The program was designed to expose students to emerging technology, artificial intelligence, digital media, leadership, workforce readiness, and community-centered problem solving. Students participated in hands-on learning, virtual instruction, mentorship, team projects, and a culminating design challenge. The program materials describe a model incorporating AI and emerging technology, digital storytelling, leadership, communication, design thinking, ethical technology use, and career-readiness skills. COR's board correspondence described participation as a strong opportunity to bring an established youth-development program into the community and noted that it aligned with the Foundation's existing programming.

Community Resource Fair. COR is also expanding its work beyond youth programming to address the needs of entire families. In March 2026, the Board formally supported moving forward with a Community Resource Fair, and subsequent emails document months of planning, vendor recruitment, fundraising, program development, and community outreach. The fair is scheduled for September 12, 2026, at the Mt. Rose City of Refuge COGIC Family Life Center. Its focus is family empowerment and generational stability, bringing professionals and community organizations together to provide information on areas including estate planning, wills and trusts, powers of attorney, advance directives and end-of-life planning, funeral and burial planning, health insurance and Medicare, veterans' resources, and other community services.