Positive Tomorrows, an Oklahoma City non-profit, is opening a private school for homeless children that was designed by the kids themselves. That’s right. A private school for homeless (not privileged) children.
Positive Tomorrows, the nonprofit organization behind the school’s creation, recently began construction on the facility with a focus on the growth and well being of the students. This groundbreaking new school campus—which has been designed for homeless kids, by homeless kids—will soon serve as a refuge for roughly 200 underprivileged kids in Oklahoma City.
For 26 years, Positive Tomorrows has experienced great success in its work educating and supporting homeless Oklahoma families by providing tens of thousands of free school meals, as well as health and dental checkups.
“Our families are in survivor mode,” Amy Brewer, Director of Education at Positive Tomorrows said. “Schooling is an afterthought at best. For many of our kids, if they were not at Positive Tomorrows, they would not be at school. Positive Tomorrows is able to provide a family with an array of support services that a traditional public school is unable to provide.”
The social workers at Positive Tomorrows believe that education is the key to ending the cycle of homelessness and poverty. “By helping to support the family, we make it possible for children to learn.”
Children raised in homelessness have reduced literacy and vocabularies. These children are also less likely to have well-developed motor skills and nearly half are unable to pass state-mandated testing at their grade level. Chronic stress and anxiety caused by poverty has also been linked to lower academic performance. These academic difficulties lead to higher dropout rates, limiting future opportunities. This contributes to multi-generational cycles of poverty.
Positive Tomorrows helps homeless children and their families in three ways:
AND, MOST RECENTLY, THEY BUILD PRIVATE SCHOOLS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN JUST THE WAY THEY WANT THEM!