Kirk Craig
(Posted on Monday, August 29, 2022)
Kirk Craig has found meaning and given back in a different way than most. His father ran a successful family dry cleaning business and they lived in a wealthy suburb of Houston.
Kirk grew up Baptist and went to a private Christian school. In sixth grade, his class went on a church mission to Mexico and his experience there had a huge impact on his life direction.
KIrk pursued mission work through college. After his graduate education, Kirk and his wife Amanda bought a house back in Houston. His plan was to start a non-profit to provide workforce training programs to inner-city youth. They would partner with local churches to train kids and employ them in the family-owned dry-cleaning business. Along with their four young children, they chose to live in the same inner-city neighborhood they were serving.
Kirk got the non-profit off the ground, but in its first year everything was turned upside down. Describing this time, Kirk references Mike Tyson, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
In the end, Kirk was willing to risk economic opportunity and comfortable safety for the chance to live his faith and make a difference. They struggled to start the non-profit with barely enough donations to cover his own expenses, and now the organization is thriving with a multi-million-dollar annual budget. He feels it’s all been worth it when he sees the kids growing up in their neighborhood become productive citizens. Their mission continues to grow, as their successful trainees come back to help steward the non-profit.