COMPASSION-LED TEEN GIRLS IN OKLAHOMA FOSTER CARE FIND SHELTER, HOPE AND HEALING AT TULSA GIRLS’ HOME.

BY JULIE WENGER WATSON

As president and co-founder of the nonpro t Project Orphans, Tulsan and Oral Roberts University alumna Brittany Stokes spent 12 years working to provide foster care, social services, food, education, shelter and support to children in countries like Guatemala, Brazil and Uganda. Nearly two years ago, Stokes and co-founder Christina Yarid expanded their mission of helping at-risk youth abroad to also include those closer to Green Country, launching the Tulsa Girls’ Home on a 5-acre ranch in Sapulpa to provide a home and services for teen girls in Oklahoma’s foster care system.

“I wanted to help build a therapeutic, compassion-led home that supported the orphaned, neglected and abused girls in Oklahoma,” Stokes says. “I believed we could do better for teen girls in our state’s custody. ese children are the ‘modern orphan’ of our community, and they need the love of a family.”

While TGH is a separate entity from the Tulsa Boys’ Home, the two collaborate on many e orts and work to lead the state in residential care quality, Stokes says.

Stokes and her husband Kyron fostered kids for years and adopted their daughter, Miracle who spent close to a decade in the system — when she was 16. According to Stokes, teenage girls in foster care are often overlooked and misunderstood. “I’ve seen the obstacles, the stigmatism and the lack of resources for these girls,” she says.

TGH currently houses eight young women between the ages of 14 and 18 who are in custody of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, but the need for this kind of service far exceeds availability.

“We get phone calls every single month, asking if we have an open bed. Whether a girl ages out or is reunited with her family, or if a girl gets adopted, that bed gets lled,” Stokes says. “I think what’s even sadder is we’ve had girls who message us, and they say, ‘I’m in foster care. I want to come to the Girls' Home.’ at really breaks your heart. A group home was never meant to replace family, and I truly believe that every one of our girls right now deserves a family.” e role TGH plays goes far beyond counseling and teaching the girls basic life skills. e TGH team ful lls many parental roles, includ- ing transporting girls to health care and hair appointments, and even getting them ready for prom and graduation.

“It’s parenting the parentless and loving them just as your own child,” Stokes says. “You teach them like you would your own child. You give them the same opportunities you would want for your own child. at’s a very di erent way of thinking when it comes to providing services to youth in foster care.”

TGH plans to extend some of its activities to girls who are not residents, like a birthday bash this spring for over 100 girls who are in foster care. ey also have an equine therapy program that will be open to more girls this summer.

“It’s so important to go that extra length to show them, ‘You can’t push me away. I’m not going to give up on you. Your brokenness is not a barrier to my love,’” Stokes says of TGH’s philosophy. “It can’t just be a program. It has to be a family. It has to be intentional every single day.”

TGH is currently fundraising to begin building a second location in 2024. For more information on how to support the organization and its residents, visit tulsagirlshome.org. TP

BY JOHN TRANCHINA

FC Tulsa kicks o the 2023 season with a new head coach, a returning star goalkeeper and some exciting new twists on the game-day experience.

Blair Gavin coaches his rst game with FC Tulsa on the road at Miami FC on March 11, joining the team after two seasons as an assistant coach with MLS Columbus Crew and three years as an assistant for the USL Championship’s Phoe- nix Rising (2018-20), which reached the league nal twice during that span.

“We’re hoping to have a very proactive team, to be the ones with the ball, playing in the opponent’s end, creating opportunities, looking to excite the fans with attack-minded football,” says Gavin, 34, who played mid elder for Chivas FC, New England Revolution and Phoenix Rising until stepping into the assistant coaching role.

He moved to Tulsa from Columbus, Ohio, in November with his wife and kids.

“I’m very excited … to implement all the ideas I’ve had for a long time,” he adds. “Working as an assistant, you get to help other people, and now overseeing the entire project is exciting because I’ve picked up a lot of information and ideas along the way.” ere is fresh optimism FC Tulsa can bounce back from last year’s disappointing 12-16-6 record, which resulted in the squad missing the USL Championship playo s for the rst time since 2019. New promising names on the roster include mid elder Blaine Ferri and dynamic young forwards Moses Dyer, Watz Leazard and Milo Yosef

Returning players include the club’s all-time leading scorer, Rodrigo Da Costa, as well as mid elder Eric Bird, forward Darío Suárez and defenders Jorge Corrales, Bradley Bourgeois and Adrián Diz Pe

Goalkeeper Austin Wormell, a Tulsa native, also returns this season, hopeful to be named the team’s starting keeper. “I am a competitor, so hopefully I’m the one for the job,” says Wormell, 24, who was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player last year. He began the 2022 season as backup keeper but stepped into the starter role after Sean Lewis was injured and traded mid-season.

Even as the team encountered di culties in 2022, Wormell appeared in 21 games, made 76 saves, recorded ve shutouts and posted a stellar save percentage of 73.8, which ranked fth in the USL Championship.

Wormell hopes his experience can help newer players gain their footing. “I think we’re going to have a bit younger core this year, so that’s going to be more important for me to be a leader to them. But I think it’s also important that the older guys look at me and say, ‘Hey, we can count on this guy and we trust in him,’ as well.”

Wormell signed with the team in 2021, after attending an open tryout. A former star at Bishop Kelley High School, he helped the Comets win the 5A state championship in 2017. His close Tulsa ties can sometimes mean he feels additional responsibility for the team’s fortune in his hometown.

“I do feel a little more pride — also pressure and responsibility — but I love it,” he says. “I’ve coached a lot of kids around town and they all come out to games, so I do feel like I’m very well looked up to and I like that responsibility to be a good example for the younger generation.”

For more information on FC Tulsa tickets and the new seating options — which includes a section of luxury padded eld seats — visit fctulsa.com. TP