Do you have any idea about what will happen to teenagers who are homeless or those who have aged out of foster care? How’s life going to be for them after they move out of foster homes? Will they manage to deal with life out there in the real and competitive world?
Luckily, Pivot. Inc. launched a project that focuses not only on providing teens a temporary home but more on teaching them the basics of life before they let them go on their own.
It’s a project called the Tiny Home Community.
They had a brilliant idea of building these tiny homes at the back of their Pivot offices in Oklahoma.
The tiny homes were situated there so that the teenagers (who live there) can still visit them and ask for advice or any other services that the organization offers.
They simply believe that,
“…the tiny home movement is a viable solution to give a home to these young people who are desperately in need of a place to live.”
They also know the importance of having a home and living independently.
“Living independently is one of the most empowering influencers to successfully transition youth into healthy, productive adults. When housing and basic needs are met, stress is reduced and youth have space to develop the necessary skills for longer term success. By continuing to foster trusting, therapeutic relationships throughout their transition, these young people begin to recognize opportunities for positive change.”
These tiny homes are more like a ray of hope for the youth.
With the help of kind volunteers, they were able to put up and furnish tiny homes that would serve as these kids’ first step towards independence and hopefully, a brighter future.
“Having a bed’s gonna be different,” said 19-year-old, Carter, who was also the first teen to move into the tiny homes. “I sleep on a couch right now, so I’ve a lot of back problems from it.”
Carter’s father is currently in prison, while his mother already passed away when he was just 10 years old.
He’s basically homeless now simply because he’s already aged out of the foster care system, but he’s given an extension of help.
According to him, he’s been to a homeless shelter, tried couch surfing for a while. Lately, he’s been staying with his sister’s adoptive family.
It’s not only him, but hundreds of other homeless teens are also making that adjustment to adulthood. Just like other people, one primary thing that they need is a safe place to stay.
The Tiny Home Community project gave them a temporary home, only this time they need to learn to live on their own.
Pivot Inc. says that the tiny homes are literally their home.
Each unit of the project has a bed, a tiny kitchen, and of course, a bathroom. They aim to serve teens between the ages of 16 and 19. Ultimately, they wanted to build a huge and beautiful community of 84 tiny homes inside their campus.
And these teens couldn’t be more thankful for this generous and life-saving project.
It’s more than just a comfortable place to live in and a roof to protect their heads, it’s more than all that. It’s more of gearing them up to the many battles of adulthood.
Living in tiny homes would certainly teach them about surviving independently, deal with day-to-day expenses, responsibilities, as well as learning both basic and critical life skills.
They can stay in the tiny homes free of charge in the first two months, they then need to pay after that. It’s $100 (2-4 months), $125 (4-5 months), and $150 if they get to stay there for more than six months.
Talking about how long can they stay? They said it’s limitless!
On the day of the ribbon-cutting, President and CEO of the organization, Jennifer Goodrich, pointed out that housing was missing from the services that they offer.
“[We are] able to serve them in a way that, again, lets them show that they have the same talents, skills that any other young person in our community has,” Goodrich told journalists that covered the event.
This story only proves that people and organizations are still out there to help the less fortunate like the homeless people. What’s even more beautiful about it is that they don’t simply aim in providing them with homes, they also gear them up and teach them to be ready once they step out of their comfort zones.
It’s just like what a famous quote said, “To a homeless man, home is literally where the heart is.”
Watch the video below to see more about Pivot’s beautiful Tiny Home Community project.
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