Founder Story
Brendetta Tucker is the Founder and Executive Director of The CRIB Transitional Youth Home and Emergency Shelter Inc., a safe and empowering space for youth ages 18–24 experiencing homelessness or aging out of foster care. A Mastered Sociologist with a strong foundation in child welfare and public service, Brendetta has dedicated her career and personal journey to changing the lives of vulnerable youth across Arkansas.
Brendetta is the former Statewide Foster Care Program Manager for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, Division of Children and Family Services, where she led transformative initiatives to improve outcomes for children in care. Her leadership included overseeing staff, managing state and federal funds, coordinating training and services across the state, and advocating for system-level improvements in child welfare.
What makes Brendetta’s mission so powerful is that it’s deeply personal. As a former homeless youth herself, she knows firsthand what it means to struggle without support and stability. Her lived experience, combined with over a decade of service in child welfare, law enforcement, and casework, uniquely equips her to lead The CRIB with empathy, vision, and relentless determination.
Brendetta holds a Master of Arts in Sociology and is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Service Leadership. Her academic background fuels her commitment to evidence-based practice, social justice, and sustainable community change.
At The CRIB, Brendetta is not just offering temporary shelter—she’s building a foundation of hope, healing, and opportunity for the next generation.
“THE CRIB Transitional Youth Home and Emergency Shelter is more than a project. It’s a promise I made to my younger self—and to every young person who has ever felt alone, forgotten, or unsafe.
I know what it’s like to be a homeless youth. I’ve lived the fear, the uncertainty, and the exhaustion of not knowing where I’d sleep or who I could trust. I’ve felt the sting of systems that failed to protect me, and I’ve carried the weight of having to survive far too young. But I also know what it means to rise—and to come back stronger with purpose.
Years later, I became the Statewide Foster Care Manager, advocating for youth just like me. From that position, I worked hard to improve the system from within, but no matter how far we came, I saw the same devastating gap: what happens to youth once they age out? Where do they go when there’s no family, no support, and no safety net?
That question haunted me, because I had lived the answer.
That’s why I founded THE CRIB Transitional Youth Home and Emergency Shelter Inc.
I survived it, so they don’t have to. The cycle ends here!”
-Brendetta Tucker, Co-Founder/CEO