A nonprofit in Oklahoma City is pushing ahead with the final phase of a tiny-home community built to house young people aging out of foster care, with plans to break ground on nine more homes at the start of 2027. Pivot’s project would bring the community to 50 homes total, after starting with just three back in 2015.
Pivot began building tiny homes in 2015 as a long-term transitional-living solution for at-risk youth, according to Oklahoma Voice. Those first three homes opened on Pivot’s 12.5-acre campus, according to Pivot, which also notes that staff remain onsite 24 hours a day, seven days a week, year-round. Per KOCO, a $250,000 donation from Citizens for Children and Families is now funding construction of the project’s last nine homes.
Gregory Shannon-O’Shea, Pivot’s senior director of operations, told KOCO that the donation will cover both the construction and the wraparound services that come with it. He said the gift enabled construction of the nine homes and will provide those wraparound services, and added that the homes address the immediate need while the surrounding support helps with the transition to independence.
How the Tiny Homes Are Built and Funded
Pivot’s expansion has leaned on a mix of public, nonprofit and private dollars over the years. The Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency provided $1.3 million from the National Housing Trust Fund toward the construction of 20 Pivot tiny homes, intended as affordable housing for youth ages 18 to 24 living independently, the agency said. The nonprofit later added 15 tiny homes to an existing 26, the station’s report notes, an expansion that also included a community center…