President Evans is launching a volunteer task force to take on the problem of homelessness in our community. On Wednesday, March 2, President Evans sent out a message to students expressing his concerns about the city’s homeless community. In this message, he outlined that the interconnected issues of gentrification, affordability of housing and homelessness are topics he has broached many times during his months on campus.
Evans also mentioned that Oklahoma City’s MAPS 4 program was taken on as one of their projects an upgrade of 23rd street which abuts the OCU campus. The transition and urbanization that the neighborhoods around 23rd Street may cause a permanent change in the affordability of housing in the area, thus escalating the homeless population included part of the president’s concerns. In order to help combat this, the president has launched a volunteer task force dedicated to supporting our homeless neighbors and investing in the expansion of understanding of the causes and potential solutions to homelessness.
James Cooper and Oklahoma City Councilman and adjunct professor said the MAPS 4 has budgeted funds which will be directed towards the construction of permanent supporting houses for the homeless of the city. The budget allocated for this is $50 million. He says this funding will potentially leverage over $400 million in housing funding available from various sources. This project will take place over the next nine years. MAPS 4 is part of a penny sales tax initiative which annually collects about a $100 to $120 million dollars in revenue and therefore, the projects are built as this revenue is collected.
When asked how to identify the homeless of Oklahoma City, James explained that annually, Oklahoma City has joined cities across the nation to participate count called Point-in-Time. One day is taken to count and survey people who are experiencing homelessness in the city. The intention of this count is to provide a snapshot picture of homelessness in Oklahoma City. A large team of community volunteers from more than 25 organizations survey people in emergency homeless shelters, transitional housing facilities, hot meal sites, crisis facilities, encampments, and various street locations.
The Point-in-Time count yields valuable data to help service providers understand how many local people are homeless and the needs they have. This information aids in planning Oklahoma City’s services and programs to feed and shelter the population as well as to help them find affordable housing, access transportation, receive rehabilitation and counseling, find employment, improve their skills through education and training and ultimately end their homelessness.
With respect to the President Evans initiative on launching a volunteer task force, Councilman James Cooper says he encourages this idea and recommended that the task force should firstly, educate themselves on the causes and effects of homelessness. This can be done by reaching out to the Homeless Alliance, taking a tour of that facility and asking to speak with some service providers so that they can learn for themselves some of the root causes of homelessness.
Secondly, they should google the MAPS 4 website, watch the public presentation that was done on the homelessness project, and they will hear from the homeless alliance and fair housing authorities. They will also hear success stories of what happens when they do ‘housing first” which is a concept that has proven globally to be effective with respect to homelessness. Finally, they can connect with the new program the city has funded called a better way. These will help give a wider view of the homeless in the city and possible solutions to this problem.
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