Nonprofit organization Youth Services of Tulsa unveiled what they call a “sensory-friendly” space at their youth campus Wednesday in an open house.
The loft is located at the YST campus on Madison Avenue -- and is a space that had mostly been used for storage. As advisory board member Margaret Hope-Hernandez tells it, for years members of staff at YST wanted to better use the space. Now they have.
“We came up with the idea of having this be a sensory-friendly environment for youth to go and sort of self-regulate, just calm down in the loudness and activity of Coffee House and Tuesday Group and other events we have downstairs,” said Hope-Hernandez.
The loft project was started in 2024 and is now open.
Hernandez and her team asked the young people who frequented their Coffee House program what caused the most issues – and noise was the top complaint.
To combat this, the loft is equipped with noise canceling headphones, soundproof boards, and soft carpeting. Also available are rocking chairs, an artist’s corner for when inspiration strikes, and soft lighting to create a soothing atmosphere. A queer-lit bookshelf is also nestled between two comfy looking couches.
A flag framed on the far wall of the loft holds special significance to the people at YST. Its filled with signatures and messages of strength in remembrance of Nex Benedict, an Owasso non-binary teen who, in early 2024, died by suicide after sustaining injuries during a fight at their high school. Nex had attended YST.
Social media advisory board member, Rex Templeton, pointed out the signatures which ran perpendicular to the horizontal orientation of the display. The flag use to hang vertically and was downstairs in the Coffee House. Its current placement caught any new visitors eye.
"We want to honor them in this space," said Templeton. "Also, that's just another sign that we want this to be a safe space for everybody."
While the loft proved to be a perfect space for their plan, there was but one drawback to their overall mission: the loft’s only entry point was a staircase. It was not accessible to everyone who frequented YST.
Two grants totaling $15,000 were awarded to YST to renovate the space, and $10,000 was designated for a chairlift. Hope-Hernandez said it needed to be done.
“We were really dedicated to making sure that everyone could access this space,” said Hope-Hernandez.
Templeton said the lift has been an immense relief for someone like them, and they were one of the first who voiced it was needed. They suffer from mobility issues such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and fibromyalgia.
"I'm lucky enough to still be semi-mobile, you know, but there's people who would not be able to get up and down without this," said Templeton. "And so that's when we were like, 'O.K., this is the first thing that we're going to put our money towards, and then we'll base the rest of our budget around it.'"
Hope-Hernandez and Templeton both agree that each piece in the new loft area was chosen with intention.
"In today's social climate, we wanted to make sure that not only do people know that this is a safe space, but they know some of the meaning and the history of what it took to make spaces like this possible.," said Hope-Hernandez.
