We work to build flourishing communities through leadership and economic development, creating a stronger culture of organizing and advocacy, and by re-envisioning public safety through community-based models.
Our dream for Tulsa is one where neighbors know and support one another, conflict and crisis are rare and taken care of within community, and everyone has their needs met because resources are abundant and shared. Most importantly, our vision for Tulsa is one where currently oppressed communities have autonomy over their lives and their futures, instead of state actors, external service providers, or outside entities.
Read more about our strategies for action towards community safety in our comprehensive report.
The Terence Crutcher Foundation is invested in the growth and development of a funding apparatus that will self-govern a portion of grant-making and reduce the racial equity gap in philanthropy. The Movement Catalyst Collective will fund Tulsa County 501(c)3 organizations (or organizations fiscally sponsored)working in Tulsa. The organization must have an emphasis on engaging Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) in providing services and/or strengthening movements.
The MCC will make grants of up to $2,500 while facilitating and promoting coalition-building and resource sharing. All proposals will be reviewed through MCC’s community-directed grant-making process. Please review the application checklist and requirements before applying. Your organization can apply using this form anytime before Friday, July 7th, 2023. Please reach out to us at info@terencecruthcerfoundation.org or 539-867-1304 with any questions.
Project L.E.A.D. (Leadership, Excellence, Achievement, and Development) empowers young people to proactively engage in political and community activism and to find their passion in the work towards liberation. This program uses evidence-based models to address systemic issues through lifting up and standing with young people who some may call at-risk; but we call at-power.
Project R.I.S.E., a partnership with the USA BMX Foundation, brings mentorship, history, education, inclusion, and awareness to middle schoolers- all on a bike, at no-cost to their families. Participants ride on a guided six-month journey through historic Greenwood and North Tulsa to meet influential community members, hear new perspectives, and make observations. The youth, coached by Olympians and World Champions, participate in thought and discussion groups centering around STEAM programming and Social Emotional Learning. Students who choose to do so will have the opportunity to go on to ride for Team Terence Crutcher at the Grand National Championships.
Project T.E.A.C.H. (Transforming Educational Achievers through Community Healing) is an no-cost educational intervention program for students struggling in Tulsa Public Schools. This pilot program is a high-dosage tutoring program serving rising second and third-grade North Tulsa students with reading, mental health, arts, and yoga programming. It provides wrap-around services geared towards healing the whole of the student mentally, physically, and emotionally so their performance in the classroom will improve above and beyond standards. Research shows that in the long-term, interventions provided in Project T.E.A.C.H. will improve the economic and health outcomes for these students while also lessening their chances of becoming involved in the school-to-prison pipeline and the criminal legal system as a whole.
The late Mrs. Leanna Crutcher, co-founder of Terence Crutcher Foundation and mother of our namesake, started the initiative known as “A Mother’s Love”, a trauma-informed program to support mothers who have lost children to gun violence, police brutality, and have been impacted by the criminal legal system. A Mother’s Love supports, uplifts, and provides resources to these mothers in the spirit embodied by Mrs. Crutcher throughout her life.
From sending mothers who have lost children to the mother of Trayvon Martin, Sabrina Fulton's, Florida retreat to paying off the legal fines and fees of system-impacted mothers, this program is multi-faceted but always rooted in love.
Because of the hyper-policing in our communities, the Restorative Justice Institute of Oklahoma and Terence Crutcher Foundation, as an initiative of ProsperOK,
launched a Transformative Justice Pilot Program in 2021. This program aims to demonstrate the cost-effective human benefit of utilizing transformative justice measures rather than the criminal legal system to address crime and conflict. It's a process led by trained facilitators and the harmed party/parties that seeks to heal and repair individuals and relationships. It is evidence and trauma-informed, and research shows it is highly effective in ameliorating many forms of harm.
It is our desire to change the narrative that perceives black men as BAD DUDES and pipeline them into a "community of achievers" through personal growth, education, and attainable resources. We give yearly scholarships to Black youth to provide pathways for their future.
Terence Crutcher was trying to better his life through music and education. The Terence Crutcher Foundation has partnered with Tulsa Community College to help students who are determined to further their education and who may have a special interest in music and the arts.
