Partners in Tulsa’s A Better Way Program hoped it would reach 100 people in its first few months.
Six months in, 394 have taken paid work cleaning up public spaces, getting a meal and referrals to social services, too.
Mental Health Association Oklahoma CEO Mike Brose said Wednesday morning’s pick up shows how popular the program is and that they might need another van.
"I understand there were, like, 19 people turned away. We can only get eight on a van at a time each day. From the day we started the program six months ago, there’s never been a day we’ve been out that we haven’t been able to easily fill the eight slots," Brose said.
The City of Tulsa spent $50,000 on A Better Way last fiscal year, and $150,000 is set aside in this year's budget. Mayor G.T. Bynum said the success justifies the city’s spending on the program, but there is still room for improvement.
"One modification that we made here that other cities haven’t done is the United Way is funding a job-placement counselor. While we’ve had some success there, it’s not as much as we would like. So, we’re actually talking … about how we can improve upon that," Bynum said.
A Better Way help with long-term job placement includes counselors to help find work and overcome barriers to getting hired, like not having an ID or a ride. One of the participants to find a long-term job, John Hughes, was homeless just four months ago.
"They found me employment with a contractor out of Oklahoma City with job sites here in Tulsa. Since then, I have an apartment, a car and I have three other people from A Better Way working with me," Hughes said.
A Better Way is modeled after Albuquerque, New Mexico’s program of the same name.
