As city officials review the issue of youth homelessness in Tulsa, one pressing question remains — what short- and long-term solutions is the city missing in its current approach?
The No. 1 need lies in expanding affordable housing for all homeless Tulsans, not just youths. Without it, the 30-plus organizations in Tulsa working to prevent homelessness — and support those experiencing it — can only manage instead of progress.
Thousands of people are estimated to be homeless in Tulsa, and the population is only growing. Housing Solutions Executive Director Becky Gligo said that for every 75 to 125 people the agency gets into housing each month, 200 to 300 more become homeless.
And that only covers the people they can count.
Advocates say short- and long-term solutions to Tulsa’s growing youth homelessness rate will require significant improvements in infrastructure, increased federal and local funding for organizations addressing youth homelessness, an emphasis on a housing-first model, and ending stigma.
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Improve infrastructure
About 4,000 additional units of affordable housing would have been necessary just last year to alleviate homelessness in Tulsa, according to local housing officials. Now Gligo estimates that the need has increased to 6,000 to 7,000 units.
Some unoccupied plots in northwest Tulsa include enough land for 5,700 affordable housing units, City Councilor Lori Decter Wright said, but the area doesn’t have enough sewer lines. About $75 million in infrastructure investments would be needed, which Wright proposed to write into the next capital improvements package in 2025.
“In 2019, we authorized $65 million for the Gilcrease (Museum) to be rebuilt,” Wright said. “Why can’t we authorize $65 million for sewer lines if it’s going to unlock a whole culture and diversity that’s historically been marginalized and oppressed?”
The proposal would be a dream come true, said Beth Svetlic, assistant executive director of Youth Services of Tulsa, as the agency could do more for those aging out of foster care or young adults with no other housing options.
“To think about providing that level of stability for young people that quickly … and what that would do for not just their stability but their hope and their ability to build trust with systems and people — what a game-changer,” Svetlic said.
Increase federal and city funding
Collectively, the city and county’s continuum of care — a local planning body working to curb homelessness in Tulsa — distributed about $3.9 million in funding this year to the 30-plus organizations under its umbrella.
At the beginning of the summer, Housing Solutions — the continuum’s lead agency — sought funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The $142 million Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, or YHDP, provides grants for agencies working to end youth homelessness.
Gligo said being awarded the grant would allow the continuum to put millions of dollars into a rapid rehousing project, which could help organizations like Youth Services of Tulsa cover additional apartment deposits and rent.
“In communities that have gotten YHDP funding, … what a game-changer it’s been for them. It’s provided an influx of resources that’s allowed them to … move the needle for young people,” Svetlic said.
Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless, recently spotlighted for its housing-first methods, emphasized the importance of last year’s $10 million in Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program funding. The coalition is beginning to tackle youth homelessness after an approach that primarily covered adults, spokeswoman Catherine Villarreal said in an email.
Oklahoma City has benefited from the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program, with about $2.7 million awarded last year. About $1 million went to institutions like Sisu Youth Services — a low-barrier, identity-affirming shelter in the city, according to James Cooper, an Oklahoma City city councilor.
Oklahoma City’s leaders plan to address a 4,500-unit deficit in affordable housing availability through the Metropolitan Area Projects 4 program approved in 2019. It provided $110 million to build at least four new youth centers operated by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.
MAPS 4 also contributed $50 million toward affordable housing. The investments are aimed at curbing homelessness with a “housing first” strategy accompanied by wrap-around services from existing providers.
Greg Shinn, the Oklahoma Mental Health Association’s associate director and chief housing officer, said Tulsa needs those “basic building blocks” to get people off the streets.
Embrace a housing-first model
Statistically, transitional-age youth and minors who are homeless in Tulsa are dealing with unemployment, disabling conditions, domestic violence and involvement with the criminal justice system. Issues like these can’t be adequately addressed without shelter and a place to sleep, Shinn said.
“The trauma of overcoming (homelessness) is really incredible — to adjust to life in housing and be a good tenant when you’re really short on resources,” Shinn said. “It’s very hard to overcome all that trauma.”
Housing First is a homeless assistance approach from the Mental Health Association Oklahoma that defines housing as a basic human right and prioritizes providing permanent housing to people who are homeless.
In the model, client choice is valuable in housing selection and supportive service participation, because it is likely to make a client more successful in remaining housed.
Shinn said the approach removes barriers to housing such as bad credit, past evictions and criminal histories to ensure that people have a home to begin building themselves up again through wrap-around services.
Wrap-around services include ongoing case management and support from the Program of Assertive Community Treatment, which covers psychiatry, social work, nursing, substance abuse and vocational rehabilitation. The services also include peer support specialists who are active in recovery from homelessness and mental illness.
For every $1 invested in affordable housing, $4 is returned to the economy, according to the Oklahoma Coalition for Affordable Housing. Investing in affordable housing benefits everybody, Shinn said.
“The homeless person, the young person, the homeless family or the homeless veteran is a winner, right? But the business owner that doesn’t like homelessness in front of their business downtown wins, right?” Shinn said.
“The taxpayers win because the tax base goes up when jobs are created or people get into housing and they get a job, and they pay taxes now.”
Empathize and destigmatize
The biggest step Tulsans must take in addressing youth homelessness is to empathize with their neighbors, churches and schools who are affected by the issue, Wright said.
The community lacks basic compassion for their neighbors experiencing homelessness, Tulsa’s District 7 councilwoman said. She encouraged those who might be far removed from the problem in their communities to put down their negative rhetoric and meet face-to-face with the youths and families enduring it.
“I always try to tell people that we are all one or two paychecks away from needing help … but there is a mindset that 'somehow that's other people, and that's not ever going to be happening to me.'”
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