TULSA, Okla. — After meeting their goal of housing 300 people, Safe Move Tulsa is set to run out of funds by summer 2026.
The housing initiative has successfully housed 68 homeless individuals and closed five encampments across the city since beginning in Nov. 2025
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"Right now, funding is allocated for up to a year," said Emily Hall, Senior Adviser on Homelessness to the mayor. "Many folks who have been in situations much longer than a year need ongoing deeper interventions and deeper supports, and that's part of scaling this work and we will not be able to do that without ongoing sustainable revenue."
The housing program's current phase has an $11 million budget aimed at housing 300 people over one year. In just four months, partners have achieved 22% of that goal.
Phases 2 and 3 collectively need $50 million to continue operations, but Hall said none of that funding is currently secured.
Phase 2, Hall said, would focus on rapid resolution.
"Everything has to be on the table right now," Hall said. “On average it is taking folks 36 days who are apart of Safe Move Tulsa to get housed. When we think about functional zero homelessness, that is people who can get the resolution to whatever put them in that situation and back into housing within 45 days. So rapid resolution is providing that quick assistance back into stability.”
More resources and funding, Hall said, means more people helped.
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If that funding doesn't come though, the program's impact will be severely limited.
"We can't continue the work," she said. "We can't maintain closure at encampment sites. We can continue to serve the people who are housed, but we cant do any additional work. We cant serve people when shelters get filled who fall on the street. It makes the movement much slower. It reverts back to where we’ve been which has not been a good place so we have to continue the momentum.”
City officials are actively engaging with community stakeholders and leaders to identify potential funding sources. While Hall did not name specific stakeholders, she emphasized that the city remains open to partnerships with any groups interested in joining the effort.
"If we're going to solve homelessness, if were going to keep people housed, if were going to get people into housing, it has to be done at the local level," Hall said. "Tulsa has to solve the problem."
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