News and Events
Major project to address homelessness
Sunday, June 17, 2007
GINNIE GRAHAM World Staff Writer
6/17/2007
Tulsa is on the cusp of eliminating chronic homelessness with Mayor Kathy Taylor backing a unique nonprofit and philanthropic project.
With the BOK Center set to open in September 2008 and other ongoing improvements in downtown Tulsa, a coalition of philanthropists, nonprofits and city officials are supporting a model that would place nearly 600 homeless people into permanent housing.
The first units in the project are expected to be operating within a year.
"From a humanitarian standpoint, it is vital to address the issue and there is also a cost benefit," Taylor said.
"By providing housing, it will cut down on emergency room visits, hospitalizations and arrests. It's an important issue from a social justice and economic development standpoint. It is expensive not to deal with these issues."
The strategy involves putting a homeless person into a basic housing unit with no strings attached. The person is then surrounded with services to help work on personal issues.
Historically, homeless people dwell in pockets of downtown because of nearby shelters, soup kitchens and proximity to the Arkansas riverbanks and railroad tracks.
"If we develop downtown, we also have to develop a perception of safety," Taylor said. "But with substandard housing and homelessness, we have to address it in a much broader housing plan. We want to address it and we will address it."
Chronically homeless is a term referring to people almost permanently without shelter because of various disabling conditions. About 60 percent of chronically homeless people have a mental illness.
The initiative is based on a national model called Housing First. The Tulsa project is called Building Tulsa, Building Lives.
The Zarrow Families Foundation started the effort last year by contacting the Mental Health Association in Tulsa and the Tulsa Housing Authority to provide social service and housing expertise.
The housing authority's nonprofit arm, Housing Partners of Tulsa, has been the entity working on the effort.
"The Zarrow foundation has been the glue to get this going, and we are on the edge of seeing (implementation)," said Chea Redditt, deputy executive director for the housing authority. "No one group can do this alone. This is truly a public-private effort, and it is something that really can achieve this goal."
The Mayor's Task Force to End Chronic Homelessness has adopted the initiative into its overall housing strategy. A core group of leaders have been meeting regularly for about six months to outline implementation.
"Tulsa can conquer the issue of chronic homelessness," Taylor said. "We've taken all the preliminary steps to plan for this. Now, we are getting the business community at the table, and we are ready to move forward."
Taylor will address the Metro Tulsa Chamber of Commerce on Monday about the homeless issue.
"No city can succeed in conquering this problem without the political will of its leaders to make it a priority and the support and understanding of the business community," Taylor said.
Locations are being sought to develop the housing units. The type of housing would be small units for single-room occupancy and would be a mix of subsidized and fair-market value units.
"We want it to be part of the community," said mayoral aide Dwain Midget. "We don't want anyone to walk down the street and see this as homeless housing. This is housing.
"This is about how we can serve all populations in different types of housing. We need to educate the general public and move away from stigmatizing anything as homeless housing."
The Mental Health Association already operates a similar program. The units are scattered throughout the city, and about 80 percent of the people do not return to homelessness.
"It already exists here and it's proven to be successful," said Mike Brose, executive director of the Mental Health Association.
The estimated cost for the program through the next five years is about $27 million. Recurring costs for services and maintenance are estimated to be $300,000 in the first year and $60,000 by the sixth year.
Those estimates may change depending on costs of transportation, building renovations, new construction and support services.
So far, the Zarrow foundation has provided funding for the nonprofits to staff the effort. But other sources of revenue are being sought to fully fund the project.
"The city's role in this is not unlike other roles we play in the community," Taylor said. "We don't provide the services, but we are driving the engine for those who do. We provide a place to gather and come up with solutions in a public-private partnership."
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Ginnie Graham 581-8376
ginnie.graham@tulsaworld.com
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Tulsa Housing
Chronic homeless: 559 a night, 4,100 a year Residents in subsidized housing: 20,000 People with income insufficient for a 2-bedroom apartment: 130,000 Substandard housing units: 8,241, with about 1,795 of those too dilapidated for rehabilitation.
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Source: Mental Health Association in Tulsa and a 2005 Tulsa substandard housing report
Reprinted with special permission from the Tulsa World
Copyright © 2007, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved
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