Positive Tomorrows is the kind of school you would have wanted to attend as a child, or the kind of school you hope your own kid may one day find themselves at—a light-filled building designed by student request and staffed by caring adults.
Positive Tomorrows is a tuition-free school for children six weeks to sixth grade who are experiencing homelessness. Driving through Oklahoma City, at some point you will likely pass City Care Night Shelter, the city’s only “no barrier” shelter, meaning anyone can stay there without precondition. They are always at capacity, so many stay outside the shelter in a row of tents—a prominent visual expression of a problem that many organizations, including Positive Tomorrows, are working together to solve.
The Positive Tomorrow’s team is well-versed in the challenges of homelessness in their state. If you ask staff, any one of them could rattle off the statistics: over 4,000 children in Oklahoma are experiencing homelessness, and one in four children in the state experiences food insecurity. Most of their parents work hard to give them a better future, but with the state minimum wage set at $7.25 (while the estimated cost of living for a single adult with no children holds steady at $20.33) homelessness is an isolating, self-perpetuating cycle that entraps many individuals and families who are doing everything in their power to escape its grasp.
High Structure, High Love
Each child is an epicenter of transformation. What starts with one child ripples outward to include parents, siblings, extended family, community members, and other organizations—an entire network built on partnership and shared dignity.
Positive Tomorrows creates a “high structure, high love” environment for both children and parents—transparently communicated guidelines that provide safety and security for the kids. Within that framework there is still plenty of room for creativity and individuality. If those boundaries are violated hard conversations ensue, but, according to Margaret, growth lives in those conversations and is supported by love. “When we fall outside the box… (we all will at some point, myself included) we meet you with unending love and support to get you back inside the box.”
To learn more: https://bittersweetmonthly.com/stories/positive-tomorrows