TULSA, Okla. — City partners announced that Tulsa's new low-barrier shelter is fully funded and that construction is underway.
The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation donated $9 million, and the Ruth Nelson Family Foundation donated $8 million to get funding over the finish line. 'The Harbor,' as the shelter will be known, is set to open at the end of 2026.
Of the 43,000-square-foot space, about 23,000 square feet will be converted into usable shelter space with 180 beds, a full commercial kitchen, and 38 dog kennels. The plan for the other 20,000 is to set it aside for future growth opportunities at the site.
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“We were excited to join the project because there was so much momentum for affordable housing solutions in Tulsa, and you really have to have both," said Rachel Freeman. "So, the low barrier shelter is the container for the work of getting someone back to self-sufficiency, but they have to have an affordable place to live.”
Freeman is the CEO of City Care, a non-profit based in Oklahoma City with 30 years of experience in homeless services. Leaders announced City Care as the shelter operator.
The Harbor will be a 24/7, low-barrier facility, with the goal of getting 180 people off the street daily and serving 2,300 people annually. Freeman said making this a low-barrier shelter should allow them to help more people in need.
“Oftentimes, there are reasons why someone won’t come inside, and it could have to do with the way that shelter services are delivered," she said. "If there’s no space for their pets or their belongings or, sometimes, in shelter solutions, families would be separated. Men and women would have to go in different directions, so all of those reasons, we took all of those reasons from our friends with lived experiences and tried to eliminate them so that people can come inside. Because when people come inside, we can connect them to services."
Sitting along Gilcrease Museum Rd., The Harbor falls under District 4, which is Tulsa City Councilor Laura Bellis' district.
Bellis told city partners at the official groundbreaking that she's received very positive feedback from the neighbors about the new addition to their community.
“Crosbie Heights is one of the neighborhoods most disproportionately impacted by homelessness in our city," she said. "It’s the most proximal to our social service corridor. And it could have been easy for them to go 'no, not one more thing in our backyard.’ And that’s not been the case; they go ‘yes, we want to be part of the solution.’"
That willingness to help and support those in need, Bellis said, is an example of how Oklahomans show up for one another.
“Oftentimes when we talk about the Oklahoma standard, it’s during times of disaster and crisis, usually a natural disaster… but the crisis of homelessness and our housing crisis, it’s started off as a much quieter disaster," said Bellis. "Maybe a job loss, a hospital bill, domestic violence, and then it escalates into a wave of disaster that we’ve seen in our community. And here we are going, we’re Oklahomans, we have a standard of care for one another, and just like for any other disaster, we’re going to come together and address it.”
To get to this point, leaders in the homeless space, like Mack Halton with the Tulsa Day Center and Mark Smith of Housing Solutions, served on an advisory board to make sure this effort served a gap.
Smith said this facility, while it will have beds and food, is much more than that.
“We see so many people, they want to get off the street, they want support, they just need help navigating there, and a safe place to do so, and so having a place that will operate 24/7 where we can bring those services into one facility and help people move on to housing is really my biggest hope," he said.
Demolition is already underway. The Harbor is expected to open by Dec. 2026.
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