Last Updated on December 10, 2023, 8:38 PM | Published: December 10, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — For fifty years, Pivot OKC has aided at-risk youth in Oklahoma City. The non-profit provides housing and career opportunities for teenagers in three focus areas; those who are aging out of the welfare and DHS foster systems, those who’ve been in the Juvenile Justice system, and those experiencing homelessness.
The organization started under the name “Youth Services for Oklahoma County” and rebranded as Pivot OKC in 2018. They focus on providing and fostering a “turning point for youth”.
What Pivot does
The organization, which touts a “soft place to land” for some of Oklahoma’s most vulnerable citizens, aims to defeat an alarming national statistic. Fifty percent of teenagers who age out of the Juvenile Justice and foster care systems will become homeless within six months of exiting those programs. This is where Pivot steps in and provides a chance for a stable life for many young people in the Oklahoma City community.
Pivot provides meals, counseling, mental health services, stable living, and support for teenagers starting from age 12 to 24 as they transition, providing them the chance to become independent and self-sufficient adults.
The organization has recently been expanding its services and creating more projects to benefit at-risk youth in Oklahoma City.
Tiny Homes project
In 2019, they began constructing a series of Tiny Homes for their residents on the campus of their headquarters. The project was a community effort and a partnership with several local construction and HVAC companies. The Tiny Homes project provides stable transitional housing for Pivot beneficiaries and is geared toward residents aged 16-24.
The project officially launched in October 2019, and expanded from three to six homes in 2021. Since the project’s start, Pivot OKC has seen several young people move in, learn about, and experience a stable home life. The program has provided many beneficiaries the chance to successfully move on to permanent housing and graduate out of the Tiny Home program.
Free Press previously reported on the project. Since we last spoke with the organization, the Tiny Homes effort has expanded.
“In July of 2022, we added 20 more Tiny Homes to our original six,” said Chandy Rice, Senior Director of External Affairs at Pivot, via a recent phone interview. “We now have 26 homes. We recently broke ground on 15 more homes, in a partnership with DHS and federal funding. By mid-2024, we plan to have 41 total homes,” she said.
Pivot Preserves
Another helpful venture has recently begun in the organization. This year, Pivot launched a new program for its residents that is helping the youth develop vital life and career skills.
Pivot Preserves is a trauma-informed job training program, and the results are sweet. “Pivot Preserves is a Social Enterprise that we launched this year, and it’s run completely by the kids who live on our campus,” Rice said.
The residents are learning to cook, package, market, and sell fruit preserves and jams on the Pivot Preserves website and in pop-up locations around the metro. “This is a year-round program; it’s not just for the holidays. Our manufacturing facility is [under construction] and will be completed soon. We will also have some restaurant and retail partnerships beginning soon. For now, anyone can order preserves at any time on our website,” Rice explained. “It provides an opportunity for business ownership that is all theirs. They even work the pop-up shops that we have started,” she said.
With flavors like Mixed Berry, Peach, and Cherry Limeade, this business venture is an opportunity to develop skills and has a positive outcome for the residents and their customers. Jalapeno Cranberry and Apple Butter are two special holiday flavors that are available now. Preserves are $7 for a 4-oz jar and $9 for an 8-oz jar. The preserves can be purchased on the website and picked up at the Pivot location on NE 50th Street or shipped.
Pivot OKC is an organization that strives to be a part of the solution to the complex problems facing Oklahoma City’s at-risk youth. Their services continue to provide an opportunity for fulfillment that many at-risk teenagers may not otherwise have.
For more information on the programs Pivot offers, visit pivotok.org. Preserves may be purchased online at pivotpreserves.org.
Adrienne Proctor is a theater and arts writer in Oklahoma City. She's been contributing to the arts reporting space since 2017.
