For the last five years, Jessica Morgan’s dream was to work within the housing support ecosystem.
That drive came from personal experience — she became homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After working at a shelter in Michigan, Morgan moved to North Texas in April and found herself staying at Fort Worth’s Presbyterian Night Shelter. She began working for the shelter’s UpSpire agency, which provides contract work for people experiencing housing insecurity.
Now, Morgan is one of the first 15 staff members working for the night shelter’s newest social enterprise: the Greater Good Collective.
The Collective is a coffee spot, thrift store, goods shop and donation center all in one.
“It’s the perfect job, because now I’m working and it’s helping put money back into (the shelter),” Morgan said. “I found my place.”
The storefront at 2603 S. Cherry Lane in west Fort Worth allows Presbyterian Night Shelter to grow its social enterprise efforts while giving UpSpire employees opportunities for work outside of manual labor.
Barbara Clark-Galupi, Presbyterian Night Shelter’s chief growth and strategic initiatives officer, noted most of UpSpire’s 250 employees are men. UpSpire’s contracts include litter abatement, janitorial services and landscaping — all physically demanding careers.
The nonprofit was looking for other ways to employ women and men when the building in west Fort Worth was donated to them.
Job options such as those in a makerspace or an event center were floated before the Greater Good Collective framework was decided, Clark-Galupi said.
“I knew that there wasn’t an independently owned coffee shop anywhere around here. So it just seemed like a good fit,” she added. “Coffee people are thrifting people, and thrifting people are coffee people.”
Greater Goods, Greater Grounds and Greater Grab make up the majority of the accessible floor plan. Clark-Galupi said the goal was for people to be able to get a coffee and have the opportunity to peruse the thrift and goods store without having to exit the building or vice versa.
Greater Grab is the thrift store section of the Greater Good Collective. (Ismael M. Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)
Greater Grounds is the coffee shop section of the Greater Good Collective. (Ismael M. Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)
Greater Goods of the Greater Good Collective is where shoppers find secondhand housewares. (Ismael M. Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)
The open space concept was a risk, Clark-Galupi admits, but the goal was to have crossover from business to business.
“The more closed off you make it, the more we thought that would be putting a barrier to the experience,” she said.
Greater Give, the donation branch of the collective, doesn’t just serve the thrift store down the hallway. Clark-Galupi said the goal is for it to serve as Presbyterian Night Shelter’s primary donation center for all nonfood items.
Greater Give, the Greater Good Collective’s donation center, is located at 2603 S. Cherry Lane in west Fort Worth. (Ismael M. Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)
“We also pick up donations. We have a website that you go to to sign up for a Monday or Wednesday pickup, and we’ll come and pick up your stuff at your house,” she said.
The Greater Good Collective provides the same benefits for its staff as the rest of UpSpire employees — no-cost transportation, uniforms and lunch.
Providing those benefits ensures that no barriers exist for people who work within the shelter’s social enterprise network.
“It’s about giving that second chance,” Morgan said. “They’re willing to work with you instead of against you to keep you working.”
The primary goal of Presbyterian Night Shelter’s social enterprises is to give those experiencing homelessness employment. However, a secondary but important goal is to make sure the Collective is profitable, Clark-Galupi said.
Although oversight of the South Cherry Lane storefront is her primary role, Clark-Galupi noted that the shelter is not stopping at just one addition to the UpSpire enterprise. In addition to the nonprofit’s woodworking business which began in October 2024, Presbyterian Night Shelter is looking to employ 750 people in a decade. Part of that growth in jobs offered is meant to offset the nonprofit’s other lofty goal of 1,000 units of housing available for people who come to the shelter.
The seating area of the coffee shop, the thrift store and the goods store are all on the same floor, with no dividing walls. (Ismael M. Belkoura | Fort Worth Report)
But the UpSpire enterprise wheel will continue to churn jobs and revenue, Clark-Galupi said. Presbyterian Night Shelter has already been given another building on the east side of Fort Worth. Plans for that space are still being decided.
In terms of the Collective’s moneymaking potential, Clark-Galupi noted the business has some risk.
Nevertheless, she’s hopeful — and said the first couple of open days have been promising.
“We’re super excited and hoping that word gets out in the community so that they’ll see this as part of their community,” Clark-Galupi said.
Ismael M. Belkoura is the nonprofit editor for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from North Texas Community Foundation. Contact him at ismael.belkoura@fortworthreport.org.
Disclosure: Barbara Clark-Galupi is a member of the Fort Worth Report’s reader advisory council. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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