Two years ago, Destini Mason was struggling with addiction and feeling so, so tired. She planned to take her own life.
Her husband was on a walk. Her children were asleep.
Then, an incoming call changed everything.
The call was to notify her about an opening at the Wings of Freedom Saratoga Sober Living Center.
Masonis one of dozens living at the Tulsa center, which opened in 2024 on Route 66 as an extension to the sober living program Wings of Freedom. The program operates four other sober living facilities.
“I got really excited just ‘cause I had a feeling, I didn’t know God at the time, but I had a feeling in my heart that something really good was about to happen to me,” Mason said.
The Saratoga Sober Living Center has 105 units on its property, creating a community right on the Mother Road for people facing homelessness, incarceration and addiction.
Dixie Pebworth, pastor and founder of Wings of Freedom, said he felt a calling from God to help others. The sober living program is the only one in Tulsa that is family-oriented, allowing children to live with their parents, he said.
Pebworth has worked on sober living programs for about 20 years. Over time, he’s noticed how drug and alcohol addiction have become worse, with few pathways to recovery. The center helps people find their purpose and community, he said.
“It’s a choice for them to be here, but it’s also a choice for us to have them,” he said.
Creating a community and breaking the generational ‘curse’
It’s a Tuesday in mid-April, and Masonis home with her four children and her husband at the Saratoga Sober Living Center. It’s not typical for them to all be home during the day, but it’s her oldest daughter’s 15th birthday.
The couple, who have both struggled with addiction, had custody of only two of their children before Wings of Freedom entered their lives.
Throughout the two years she’s been there, she obtained custody of her two other children and finished her probation three and a half years early.
She learned about Wings of Freedom at church, but at the time, they didn’t have space for the family.
Now, they’re all together and spent the evening at Osaka Steakhouse & Sushi Bar to celebrate. Mason said this is the first time she’s had a community around her.
“We’re a part of a family here,” she said. “It’s honestly just been uphill ever since then. You know, we all have our battles, but this is home for us.”
Amanda Shands has been part of the Wings of Freedom community for nearly a decade. She lives on the property with four of her children and her husband. The program helped her break a generational curse of addiction, she said.
Shands is now a staff member and mentor helping others facing similar challenges. It’s a blessing to give back to the community, she said.
“When you’re coming out of addiction. When you’re getting sober, you never imagine that you’ll have something like this,” Shands said. “Like, it’s just beyond anything that you can wrap your head around because in that moment, you’re just happy to have a bed.”
‘If you don’t work, you don’t eat’
Wings of Freedom works with the prison system, so clients come from all over the state and country. Some individuals show up at the God’s Shining Light Church, also on 11th Street.
The program isn’t free. Clients pay $650 a month to cover rent and program fees.
“The Bible says, ‘If you don’t work, you don’t eat,’” Pebworth said. “Everyone’s responsible in one form or another.”
People can graduate out of the program in six months. The individuals have to stay clean and sober, pass their drug tests, attend all their meetings, take care of their property and apartment and respect all the rules, Pebworth said.
“I had one lady who took her five years to get that certificate but she kept coming back and kept coming back and she didn’t want to give up and she would fight the fight,” he said.
Robert James “RJ” Livoni said Wings of Freedom is the only place he’s been to that didn’t see his demons and automatically ask him to leave.
“(Pebworth) saw my demons and said, ‘come here, come here,’ and it made me feel welcome,” Livoni said.
Continuing to help others find their purpose
Pebworth hopes to continue building out the property in the future.
The sober center houses the families, with the church standing right next door. Across the street, there’s an administrative building that houses Wings of Freedom’s companies, Green Country Trailer Rental and Pro Sprinkler.
Eventually, they hope to build out the front of the center and expand to open a thrift store and a food truck — with plans to serve wings. Both will also provide more jobs for clients, Pebworth said.
“When people find their purpose when they’ve had no purpose, now everything changes,” Pebworth said. “So, they get healed. They get delivered. They get a whole new life.”
Tephanie Bray has been part of the community with her 10-year-old daughter for nearly two years. She found her husband there, too. Bray, who has struggled with addiction, has had no relapses. She has a job and her own place.
Bray said she has been through other sober programs, but this one feels different. It’s the religious aspect that has really stood out to her, she said. She didn’t grow up religious, but she found religion when she first went into prison.
“My daughter, she’s getting to be in the church and everything, and like, it’s being passed down to the next generation,” she said. “That’s really what I wanted more than anything was for her to grow up and have morals.”
Meanwhile, Mason is in college to pursue business. But, she’s realized her purpose is to be a mother.
“I know God has me where I’m supposed to be,” she said.
Individuals can apply to the program at the Wings of Freedom website. The organization asks for people to reapply monthly due to the large number of applicants they receive. The program costs $650 a month.
This article was produced as part of a partnership between the Tulsa Flyer and La Semana, a Tulsa-based bilingual Spanish-English newspaper serving Latino communities in Oklahoma.
News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
