OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The President and CEO of a metro non-profit assisting Oklahomans experiencing homelessness says diversion efforts will be a critical effort in helping more people in the new year.
Data from a December snapshot released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows Oklahoma still has plenty of work to do when it comes to addressing homelessness. The report shows a 17% spike from 2023 numbers compared to 2024 numbers, which meant more than 5,400 Oklahomans were recorded as staying in shelters, temporary housing or risking the elements. The data comes ahead of the first arctic blast of the year expected to arrive in Oklahoma this week.
"In this field we're chronically hopeful or we wouldn't come to work every day," said Homeless Alliance President and CEO Meghan Mueller when asked how she and her staff stay optimistic.
Mueller says data has helped metro partners adopt interventions locally that have been pivotal over the last few years when it comes to homelessness outcomes. She says partners have been able to improve their outreach when it comes to going into encampments and building trusts with people who need help with their transition from homeless to housed. Mueller says she's also not surprised to see the increase heading into 2025.
"We typically thinking of homelessness as kind of a lagging indicator of economic health and well-being," said Mueller. "We're still attributing many of these increases to pandemic era problems. You know, many people, were right on the fringe and so many people still are living paycheck to paycheck or are one crisis or one difficult circumstance away from finding themselves in a situation where they have to make difficult decisions."
Mueller says those decisions can often include simple choices a lot of people take for granted like putting food on the table or paying rent. She says trends the Homeless Alliance and metro partners are seeing revolving around young families, teens, or people experiencing serious medical issues who need help to get back on their feet.
Mueller says the Homeless Alliance's day shelter has also seen a spike in a higher volume of clients they're serving per day.
"I think our day shelter right now, we're averaging around 400 people a day and that is over, you know, what we would typically see," said Mueller. "That census is quite high, and again, that's something that I hear from our other partners, you know, it's not just, everyone's coming here and our partners are sitting at their agencies not serving anyone. They're over capacity too."
Mueller told News 4 employees that diversion efforts will be critical in 2025.
"It's diverting people away from the system entirely," said Mueller. "Our hope is that as we, as a community, kind of pilot these new models of service delivery, we can catch folks before they really hit and interact with our system. The experience of homelessness is traumatic. There's a lot of trauma that just simply goes into walking in the doors of a shelter."
Mueller says the best way they'll be trying to help people avoid that trauma is by trying to connect with struggling individuals before they've exhausted all of their resources and are forced into homelessness. She says local partners will be working more closely with individuals in the new year to carry out those types of interceptions.
In addition to that goal, Mueller says she's also hopeful about the growing awareness of metro residents to the homeless population, with many asking how they can help instead of complaining.
"We're coming out of a very generous season and, you know, a season where all Oklahomans and all of our neighbors recognize that people shouldn't be outside, you know, that people should have a home," said Mueller.
