Their participation shows that they have a heart for service and for the county’s youths. Young said the program would not be possible without the partners. “The program is a great way for young people in crisis to find immediate help in their neighborhood, all throughout Tulsa County.” “For many of these young people, when they’re reaching out to a Safe Place, it’s usually the worst day of their life,” Young said. He said YST is one of the few Safe Place agencies that use volunteers to provide transportation to the help that’s needed. Young people who seek services are able to reach Youth Services Tulsa. In 2018, more than 100 youths accessed services at Safe Places, said Brian Young, community relations coordinator at Youth Services Tulsa. Other Safe Places are the Tulsa City-County Libraries, the city of Tulsa fire stations, the EMSA ambulance service, and Tulsa Transit buses. Safe Places have been in Tulsa since 1991, with QuikTrip signing on as the first partner. The staff has dealt with a variety of customer-related situations, she said. She said the company has already trained the employees in emergency preparedness. “Our employees have dealt with varying situations, especially with youth, so this formalizes things,” she said. The company also has to train all of its store employees to respond to a youth in crisis. OnCue is purchasing the signs for its stores as well as the fire departments. She said it was Jonathan Roberts, executive director of Be the Change, who started the conversation about getting the partners together. OnCue Corporate Communications Vice President Laura Aufleger said the company has been a Safe Place in Stillwater for several years, even before it became OnCue. The other organizations offer only nightly shelters. Pivot is the only nonprofit organization among the three that operates a 24-hour emergency youth shelter. Then, depending on the service need, Pivot or Sisu can be called. When the youth asks for help, Be The Change, a nonprofit that provides a continuum of services to marginalized Oklahomans, will answer the call and respond to the young person. “Once you get them out of a crisis situation, then we can connect them with services that meet their need.” “Our commitment is to meet the needs of youth in our community,” said Melanie Anthony, Pivot’s vice president of community engagement and development. Also, every city fire station will be a Safe Place. to create a Safe Place network. In the metro, 31 OnCue stores will be certified Safe Places, which means a young person in a crisis can get help at any of those OnCue locations. OnCue Express stores are partnering with the city of Oklahoma City, Sisu Youth Services, Be the Change, and Pivot Inc. OKLAHOMA CITY – By the time school is dismissed for summer break, young people in the Oklahoma City metro will have several new locations where they can seek crisis help. A customer refuels his car at an OnCue Express in Moore.
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