TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa City Council passed a budget amendment to begin the Safe Move Tulsa Rehousing Plan on Aug 20.
Councilors approved the reallocation of more than $4 million to the new 'Safe Move Tulsa' housing initiative. Those dollars are added to $1.7 million already approved ARPA dollars, bringing the total investment to $6 million.
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NEW DETAILS: Tulsa leaders outline 'Safe Move Tulsa' plan for homelessness
“This is one piece of a multi-pronged approach to getting to functional zero homelessness, and we have dollars available now," said Emily Hall, the mayor's Senior Advisor to Homelessness. "Our council, our mayor is ready to act now, and we have people who need housing and support services right now."
Hall said this initiative focuses on more than just getting people off the street.
'Safe Move Tulsa' aims to provide wraparound services like mental health support, transportation, or recovery treatment to give people the best opportunity to transition out of homelessness to stability.
WATCH: Tulsa leaders outline 'Safe Move Tulsa' plan for homelessness:
"Currently our shelters are at 100% capacity, and that means people who are falling into homelessness don’t have a place to go but on the street," said Hall. "We have bottlenecks that have been created in the shelter and on the street, and this is really creating a pathway to permanent housing and adding to what our service providers are doing every day."
Though it's not a one-size-fits-all.
“Each individual and family will be on their own individualized path, meaning that maybe someone just needs a few weeks to a few months of support to get going, maybe someone is going to need that full 12 months," said Hall. "But as they are accessed, we will know that they are able to maintain rent within 12 months."
While councilors did support this reallocation, District 7's Lori Decter Wright said she wanted to lay out clear expectations that this wouldn't be the homeless 'fix all.'
“The $6 million will accelerate some of the great successes that our partners are already having, but it’s going to take more."
Leaders are hopeful this will be the jumping-off point for that very reason.
Mayor Monroe Nichols sat in on the council's committee meeting to answer questions on the move. He hopes that having the city tackle such an ambitious chunk of the issue will make other entities eager to get on board, too.
“The city is taking on this $6 million piece, soon, the city is going to be taking on tens of millions of dollars out of the housing part," said Nichols. "I think that’s going to make a difference to everybody who’s saying, hey, now we are happy to come to the table to figure out what else do you need that your dollars can’t pay for."
After approval, 300 homeless Tulsans have the opportunity to get into housing and on the path to a new life, supported by the initiative for at least twelve months.
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