T-Town Tacos: A social Enterprise of Youth Services of Tulsa
T-Town Tacos has been serving the Tulsa community since April of 2016; serving the public our delicious tacos and serving the Youth Services of Tulsa clients by equipping them with the employment skills needed to create a better future for themselves.
T-Town Tacos is the social enterprise of Youth Services of Tulsa, operated in close partnership with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. T-Town Tacos serves our delicious breakfast and lunch tacos to Downtown Tulsa from modified trikes, as well as delivery and catering services to the Tulsa metro area. T-Town Tacos also serves as an employment readiness training program for young people participating in the Youth Services transitional living program. Young people who have been struggling with employment build healthy work habits and receive training focused on the “soft-skills” of employment, things that will help them excel in every career.
T-Town Tacos began with a 2016 innovation grant from the Tulsa Area United Way intended to tackle what TAUW CEO Mark Graham called "stubborn social challenges." Employment is one of the largest determining factors for the success of young people who have transitioned away from homelessness. Many of the young people we serve have never had a job or an opportunity to build the habits and experience they need to find employment they can both enjoy and build a life with. T-Town Tacos teaches these lessons in the best way possible: by employing them.
In it's early Days, T-Town Tacos would ride out on trikes to various locations in downtown Tulsa selling breakfast tacos to business people before their workday began. During the pandemic, face to face tacos sales fell out of favor. We focused on caterings, and it has blossomed to become our preferred business model, though you can still find us on the streets selling tacos every Tuesday at 1st and Boston in Downtown Tulsa!