The center was in the East Aldine area of northeast Harris County. Residents there remember Foreman as approachable.
HOUSTON — George Foreman opened a youth center in northeast Harris County. Residents who lived in the area talked on Saturday about the boxing icon and his impact.
Outside what was once the George Foreman Youth and Community Center now stands a single candle, a small but powerful tribute for a giant of a man whose impact went far beyond the boxing ring and deep into the heart of East Aldine on Lone Oak Road.
“After school and go over there and meet friends and I had bonds with people,” said Jesus Gonzalez, who grew up in the area.
Gonzalez still lives right across the street from the center, which for nearly four decades, served as a safe space for local kids like him. He said it made a difference for him.
“Oh yeah, for sure,” he said. “That’s why I like living here because it was so peaceful. There was nothing going on here that was bad. Like everything was so good.”
“Was it disheartening to see it close?” we asked.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I mean it closed, but everybody still respected the building and everything. It was, you know, maybe it’s gonna open back up one day and we thought that was gonna happen and never happened.”
Foreman wasn’t just a name on a building. He showed up for the kids in the neighborhood. He was larger than life.
“Meeting him is kind of like meeting, like a warrior,” Gonzalez said. “It’s like you’re meeting Hercules or something, you know.”
Gonzalez proudly points to a photo. He was just 18 when he snapped that moment with the champ, so hearing of Foreman’s passing hit him hard.
“He was a really great guy,” said Victor Vallejo. “And I mean, I sadly miss him.
Vallejo shares the same heartbreak.
“It keeps kids off the streets and like just mainly helps a lot of youth around this area,” he said.
Vallejo remembers getting boxing lessons at the center as a teen and the way Foreman carried himself.
“He was a good people person,” he said.
Because Foreman’s roots in Houston ran deep, along with the youth center, neighbors say the ordained minister also opened a church down the street where he preached, prayed, and gave his time. For many, his legacy won’t just be remembered, it’ll be lived.
“It stays with you forever,” Gonzalez said. “Like legends never die. They live in all of us.”