A two-year push to end veteran and chronic homelessness in Tulsa will keep going past its original Dec. 31 end date.
Zero:2016 will be renamed Built for Zero. A Way Home for Tulsa is the coalition of organizations carrying out the initiative, and Chair Jeff Jaynes said more than 600 people found permanent housing under Zero:2016.
"We were doing a pretty good job, housing about 10 to 15 people each month, but that's nowhere near the level we needed to be to really make a serious impact," Jaynes said.
They’ll need the community’s help.
"We're running up against a need and a gap in how many people we can move into housing, and so we're working with apartment complexes and landlords to see if they would be willing to help us house somebody who is in need," Jaynes said.
Housing is just the start. People will also be connected with mental health and substance abuse services, much like one man A Way Home for Tulsa helped.
"He was homeless for a decade and would connect with our system about once a year until we moved him into housing," Jaynes said. "Once he was moved into housing, he got a job, he reconnected with his family, he's been sober for three years."
The use of a name list rather than a quantitative goal will continue. Giving each case a name helps shelters and case workers easily recognize when someone keeps showing up on the streets.
Tulsa is one of 70 communities participating in Built for Zero.
