When a Neighborhood Invests in Its Schools—And Schools Invest Back

Just east of downtown Tulsa, Kendall-Whittier is a neighborhood rich in history and culture but shaped by long disinvestment. Families face barriers across education, housing, employment, and child development. Growing Together, a Tulsa nonprofit founded in 2014, was created to address those challenges through a coordinated neighborhood strategy. 

What Is Place-Based Community Work?  

Place-based organizations start with a simple idea: where people live shapes access to opportunity. Rather than tackling issues separately, they align housing, education, economic opportunity, and wellness to improve conditions across a neighborhood. 

Their goal is to change the conditions producing problems, not just respond to the symptoms. 

As a Purpose-Built Communities network organization, Growing Together serves as a neighborhood "quarterback," aligning partners and strategy around a shared local vision. Its work spans housing, economic development, education, early childhood, and community leadership. A key part of that work is its licensed partnership with Communities In Schools® (CIS®). 

A Community That Refused to Lose CIS  

Before Growing Together became a CIS licensed partner, CIS had already earned trust in Kendall-Whittier schools. Families valued site coordinators as steady adults who understood their circumstances and connected them to help without judgment. 

When that support was threatened, parents, educators, and school staff pushed to preserve it because the relationships mattered. 

Growing Together responded with a simple commitment: it would do whatever it took to preserve that support. What began as a community response became a full CIS licensed partnership rooted in local trust and long-term vision. 

Why the CIS Network Matters  

Growing Together could have simply continued the work under a new name, but it chose to remain part of the CIS network because the model brought a deeper commitment, more than branding. 

CIS brought an evidence-based framework, data-informed student supports, and a national learning community that helped Growing Together strengthen its work. Growing Together contributed to neighborhood trust, local knowledge, and broader place-based reach. 

That combination has produced results. In 2023–2024, Growing Together CIS site coordinators served students and families across 10 Tulsa public schools. Ninety percent of those schools reduced chronic absenteeism, and 65 students strengthened hope and resilience through the Hopeful Minds curriculum. 

When School Walls Aren't the Limit  

CIS site coordinators know a student's challenges do not begin at school or end at dismissal. Because Growing Together also works in housing, workforce development, and economic mobility, coordinators can connect families to opportunities many school-based programs cannot reach on their own. 

That reach can change a family's trajectory. During the pandemic, one coordinator helped a mother facing job loss and was struggling with virtual learning for her children to connect to training, build computer skills, and secure stable employment. 

Another example began with a local entrepreneur who partnered with Growing Together during the pandemic. When his grandchildren later enrolled in a target school, the relationship continued through CIS, and the family became active in school life. 

Growing Together is extending that approach further. By 2028, it expects to open more than 50 affordable rental housing units in Kendall-Whittier, focused on Tulsa Public Schools families facing housing instability. 

The Research Is Clear: CIS Changes Life Trajectories  

For place-based organizations focused on economic opportunity, a 2025 study from Opportunity Insights and Harvard's EdRedesign Lab reinforces the value of this work. 

The study found that three years of CIS exposure increased high school graduation by 5.2% and two-year college enrollment by 9.1%. It also raised earnings at age 27 by 4.3%, or more than $75,000 in additional lifetime earnings in present-value terms. Integrated student supports, in other words, are also an economic mobility strategy. 

For Growing Together, the findings confirm what the community has long seen: trusted relationships and strong connections to resources can change a student's trajectory and, over time, a neighborhood's future. 

Why Place-Based Organizations Should Look to CIS—and to Growing Together  

Place-based organizations already understand that student success is tied to family stability and neighborhood conditions. The economic mobility research strengthens the case for integrated student supports through CIS. 

Growing Together shows how those strategies reinforce one another: CIS brings an evidence-based model and national network, while Growing Together brings neighborhood trust and connections beyond the school day. 

Together, they offer a practical model for communities seeking lasting, neighborhood-centered opportunity. 

Visit Growing Together to learn more about their work in Kendall-Whittier. Learn more about becoming a CIS licensed partner or explore how CIS can support place-based community strategies in your community in this brief.