Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) celebrated the completion of GRADcafé Gulfton-Sharpstown with a ribbon cutting with Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones, Harris County Public Library Executive Director Edward Melton, President & CEO of Tejano Center Dr. Adriana Tamez, and Harris County Juvenile Probation Department Executive Director Henry Gonzales. 

“GRADcafé is an exciting and vibrant place to help students and families in Harris County plan for and make real their dreams and aspirations, and I am thrilled to support its expansion to the new GRADcafé Gulfton-Sharpstown,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “I am glad to partner with the Tejano Center, Harris County Public Library, and Commissioner Briones in this effort, and excited to be able to support this new GRADcafé in Texas’ Seventh Congressional District with $578,000 in congressional funding.”

In 2022, Congresswoman Fletcher requested and secured $578,000 for Harris County Public Library.  The funding was included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, a bipartisan government funding bill that funds essential programs and projects, including the GRADcafé Gulfton-Sharpstown.  President Biden signed the bill into law on December 29, 2022.  

Originally founded as Project GRAD in 1994, GRADcafé is a community-based college and career advising model that helps underrepresented students seeking higher education and career success.  This new GradCenter location will be housed within the Opportunity Center, a repurposed former detention facility that now provides educational and vocational opportunities for at-risk youth.