Since 1925, Upward Transitions has served those in need in Central Oklahoma, making the organization one of the oldest social services agencies in the community. People in need can always turn to Upward Transitions for help during good times and bad.

In 2025, Upward Transitions celebrates 100 years of service to Central Oklahoma. In the latter part of the past 100 years, the organization has worked to build a sustainable future including creating a fulltime development and public relations staff position, maintaining a debt-free organization, and establishing investments and reserves equal to more than four months of operating expenses.

This past fiscal year, July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024, Upward Transitions worked with more than 50 partner agencies throughout Oklahoma County to address issues and remove barriers to self-sufficiency for more than 4,000 individuals.

A common challenge people experiencing homelessness encounter is obtaining identification documents such as birth certificates and state IDs. Many of the people served by Upward Transitions are not able to obtain the documents they need without assistance due to literacy, behavioral, and cognitive factors as well as cost. Last year, Upward Transitions provided nearly 2,600 documents and state IDs which opened doors to employment, housing, benefits, and other vital services.

Preventing families and seniors from becoming homeless is another critical service Upward Transitions provides to the community. Last year, through its rent and utility assistance program, Upward Transitions diverted evictions for 854 individuals in 300 households. These services along with case management helped keep children safe and healthy by ensuring their families remained in their homes and had access to needed support services for nutrition, medical care, education, and employment.

It is impossible not to be moved by the care and compassion the Upward Transitions team gives to the most vulnerable in the community. Day in and day out, frontline team members encounter people from all walks of life. Most are in crisis, seeking help to make a better life for their families. Every one of their stories is different, and each person faces a very personal set of barriers to a stable life.

The issues of homelessness and poverty are complex. Upward Transitions cannot address every barrier, but with your help, obstacles to housing, employment, transportation, and critical services can be removed or lowered, and hope can be restored.

Upward Transitions is known as the “go-to” agency for retrieving identifying documents for people experiencing homelessness in the Central Oklahoma nonprofit community. Partner agencies trust Upward Transitions to assist their clients in getting birth certificates and State IDs to gain access to critical resources, such as housing, employment, healthcare, and benefits.

Upward Transitions’ staff are here to help in the office and in the community. Because our case managers work off-site several days a week at some of our partner agencies, the issue of transportation is eliminated for many individuals needing our services.

Upward Transitions’ Travelers Aid booths at the OKC Will Rogers International Airport provide assistance to more than 150,000 travelers each year, and people stranded in crisis in Oklahoma City or Oklahoma County can rely on Upward Transitions for assistance in getting to a place of safety and stability.

The organization’s ultimate goal is to stabilize those who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless to a sustainable future as contributing citizens in the community. Upward Transitions is achieving that goal.

It is surprising how unique each of the clients of Upward Transitions can be. People from all walks of life encounter hardships and crisis, and even those who seem to be in stable situations one day may need help in the future. As both distant and recent history have shown, times of hardship strike entire communities without warning, and for 100 years, Upward Transitions has been a crucial resource to those hit hardest.

During the COVID crisis of 2020-2022, we were forced to make some fast decisions and hard changes so we could continue to assist the many who rely on us in need as well as many more who were suddenly without assistance from other local nonprofit agencies who were forced to close their doors.

The Winter of 2020 also saw Oklahoma City hit hard by an extreme ice storm, further putting our neighbors who were unsheltered at risk. During that time, Upward Transitions regularly rallied its donors, supporters, and staff to find ways to serve the growing need in the community.

• Extra measures were implemented, and additional barriers were built to safeguard against spread of COVID and Flu.
• Through OG&E Energy Corp.’s generous $500,000 contribution to United Way of Central Oklahoma Upward Transitions and Heartland 2-1-1 coordinated emergency hotel rooms, food and gas cards, and property repairs for those impacted by the ice storm.
• Additional staff was added through emergency funding to provide the most care possible for the growing need.

Similarly, Upward Transitions dug in and found creative ways to provide assistance when out-of-state refugees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita sought refuge in our state in 2005.

Upward Transitions (then Travelers Aid) was also a vital part of the USO efforts during WWII to serve troops traveling to and from deployments and training camps.

The mission of Upward Transitions is to prevent generational poverty through community collaboration, emergency relief and empowerment, therefore inspiring hope with its neighbors experiencing housing instability.