A Place to Call Home

Not being able to call a place home, is something that according to homelessaliiance.org, 6,044 to 7,555 individuals across Oklahoma face every year. Because of this, multiple organizations around the state have opened their doors for these individuals to give them a temporary home and a chance for them to get back on their feet.

Homeless shelters are something that, according to newpol.org, have been helping many men, women, and families since the 1980’s, when the first emergency public shelters began opening in cities nationwide. Although homelessness is something that can be found anywhere, it is most apparent in larger cities.

The following are homeless shelters that can be found around or near the Oklahoma City area.

Homeless Alliance

Answering YES, to the question, can we end chronic homelessness in OKC, is something that Homeless Alliance strives to accomplish each and every day. They plan on accomplishing this by rallying the OKC community through collaboration with service providers, city government, and local businesses.

There are many different programs that Homeless Alliance has started in order to better focus on different areas of homelessness. Programs such as Horizon, a web based application that allows agencies serving the homeless to collect data and measure the outcome of the services, and Family Homeless Continuum, a program dedicated to for families to achieve and sustain stable housing, are all things that Homeless Alliance are taking part in, to reach their final goal of ending chronic homelessness in OKC.

City Rescue Mission, INC

City Rescue Mission is a faith based, private, nonprofit organization providing help for men, women, and children in the Oklahoma City metro. Last year alone, the organization served an average of 410 people per day. The Mission does not only provide a safe shelter and warm meals to individuals, but it also provides services such as, medical, dental, vision care, and much more.

The goal of Mission is to reach out to the homeless with love, compassion and the resources needed to make a positive change in their personal lives, and give them the resources to become productive members of society.

HOPE Center of Edmond

HOPE, also known as, Helping Our People in Emergencies, sets out to help meet the basic needs of the people in our community who are having emergencies or crisis. The combined support of many churches, business, and individuals, allows HOPE to provide food, clothing, and utility assistance to struggling individuals.

Recently HOPE was able to provide 570,000 pounds of food for 3,983 families, goods and baby items for 2,075 families, and paid rent and utility assistance for 1,652 families.

These shelters are only a few examples of the hundreds around the state of Oklahoma. Somethings that all homeless shelters are always looking for are volunteers and support from the community. One never knows when we may become the person who is needing assistance so if able to, it is important that we give back when we can.

So many organizations have already done so much to end homelessness in our state. It is thanks to these shelters that many lives are being transformed and individuals are being taken care. There is still much more that we can do to further support, but it is good to know that there are places out there where any individual can call home.