14 Oklahomans housed before the holidays
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – In a collaboration of over 40 organizations committed to preventing and ending homelessness in Oklahoma City, 14 people now have a place to call home.
Santa Claus came a few days early for 14 people living in two outdoor encampments who were housed and assigned a case manager on Thursday, according to the newly formed Key to Home Partnership,
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Key to Home Partnership leaders say eight of the people were living at I-40 and Martin Luther King Boulevard and another six, which included a minor, were living near SW 15th Street and Portland Avenue.
Since September, 40 people living outdoors have been placed in homes through the Partnership’s Encampment Rehousing Initiative.
One of the goals of the Key to Home Partnership is to rehouse 500 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by the end of 2025.
“Residents can support the work by donating at keytohomeokc.org,” Key to Home Partnership Communications Manager Jamie Caves said. “We use private dollars to help remove barriers and leverage public funding. There are move-in expenses, such as furniture and admin fees that we can’t pay for through public funding, so we rely on the community. Housing is the answer to this crisis.”
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As temperatures plummet, the winter months can be dangerous for the estimated 1,400 people living on Oklahoma City’s streets. Oklahoma City’s homelessness rate is a result of a myriad of complex factors such as low wages, the lack of affordable housing, rising eviction rates and inflation.
Partners
Staff from Key to Home Partnership, Mental Health Association and Hope Community Services provided outreach and engagement services to those living in the encampment.
City Rescue Mission and OCHA secured the apartments.
Focus on Home furnished apartments with necessities.
OCHA assisted with rental subsidies.
Case managers are provided by the Homeless Alliance, City Care, Catholic Charities and NorthCare, who will help people stabilize and recover over the next year.
Clean up of encampments is provided by Oklahoma County’s SHINE program.
ODOT helped maintain the areas after people moved out.
“Rehousing those in this encampment and beginning the maintenance of the area has been a community-wide effort,” Caves added. “Many agencies have come together to improve the health and safety of a vulnerable population while also improving the landscape of our community. Now that the encampment is closed, outreach teams continue to engage people in the area. We are planning potential ways to beautify areas but that will require additional funding and partnership with art agencies in Oklahoma City.”
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Key to Home Partnership
To address homelessness differently in Oklahoma City, a new system of governance called the Key to Home Partnership was launched in April 2023. Key to Home is a public-private partnership of over 40 agencies whose mission is to prevent and end homelessness in OKC alongside the City of OKC and the private sector.
The Key to Home Partnership’s action plan is to reduce unsheltered homelessness through housing. The four goals for 2023-2025 include:
Create a new governance system.
Address homelessness differently by improving infrastructure and capacity.
Achieve a 25% reduction in Youth Homelessness by rehousing or diverting 100 youth by 2025.
Achieve a 75% reduction in chronic Unsheltered Homelessness by rehousing 500 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by 2025.
About homelessness in OKC
On any given night, about 1,400 people experience homelessness in Oklahoma City. Of them, about 500 are sleeping outside. Oklahoma City’s homelessness rate is a result of a myriad of complex factors, such as low wages, the lack of affordable housing, rising eviction rates and inflation.
To get involved or learn more about Key to Home Partnership, visit keytohomeokc.org.
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