Panel discusses homelessness at July Chamber Forum

At July's Chamber Forum, Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City President Cathy O'Connor, center, checks her stats while she discusses affordable housing. Also on the panel are Ranya Forgotson, founder of The Curbside Chronicle, left, City Care COO Rachel Freeman, O'Connor, and Homeless Alliance Executive Director and Founder Dan Straughan. ONE Gas, Inc. Managing Vice President of Operations and Chamber Chair of Community Initiatives Kent Shortridge led the discussion.

Homeless Alliance Executive Director Dan Straughan said he thinks Oklahoma City could end homelessness.

"It's not rocket science," he said. "It's housing and compassion. It's folks like you who can make this thing happen."

Straughan was one of four panelists who spoke about the issues at the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber's July Forum, where the topic was collaborating to end homelessness. He was joined by Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City President Cathy O'Connor, The Curbside Chronicle founder and director Ranya Forgotson and City Care COO Rachel Freeman. ONE Gas, Inc. Managing Vice President of Operations and Chamber Chair of Community Initiatives Kent Shortridge led the discussion.

Straughan told the attendees that within the room, there are people with enough time, talent and treasure that when put toward addressing homelessness, then the issue could be resolved once and for all.

One way to resolve the issue is by having more affordable housing units, Straughan said. Affordable housing is a phrase used to describe housing is leased to tenants based on their income level. The income level can range from 80% of average median income (AMI) to as low as 30% of a AMI. He said the AMI in Oklahoma City is about $50,000.

"Most people we're talking about make either 60% or 30% of AMI," said O'Connor. "We have 60,000 households that make 30% of AMI and for every one of them, we only have 34 of every 100 housing units that are available for them."

O'Connor said the Alliance is trying to create programs to spur more affordable housing development, which can work in partnership with the federal dollars that are available from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In the 2019 legislative session, Oklahoma County gained a victory when the legislators approved a bill that allowed Oklahoma County to get access to the state's affordable housing tax credit program. The city of Oklahoma City also has $10 million set aside in it's 2017 general obligation bond package to help with affordable housing development.

When building affordable housing, one challenge that often arises, O'Connor said, is people hear the word "affordable" and are immediately yelling, "Not in my backyard" (NIMBY). The conversation even arises when the housing is for people on the higher end of the income qualification."

"What we need to recognize is that these people are us," she said. "They're our kids, our aunts and uncles and cousins, and they deserve to be in places that have good schools, access to transportation and employment opportunities."

But not everyone can do something as big as build affordable housing units, so The Curbside Chronicle is another way the community can help people who are experiencing homelessness. The monthly magazine is sold by vendors who get to keep what they earn. People needing employment can start working for Curbside at anytime and do not need an ID card to get a job. The lack of an ID card is often what keeps people from getting a job, Forgotson said.

"Homelessness can be a very isolating thing to experience," she said. "It's not normal in our society  for  folks to get to speak to someone in that situation, or for folks in that situation to feel like they can be seen and can be heard in our community. What Curbside does is by giving people employment and a product to sell and by giving customers a chance to engage with folks, we help break down some of those socially-isolating walls and take away some of that uncomfort. You can just say, 'What's in this current issue of Curbside?' and get to know them as another human being."

Barriers to employment are not the only ones that are encountered by people experiencing homelessness. There can be barriers to get into a shelter, which is why City Care is building a low-barrier night shelter that opens this year. Freeman said people don't seek shelter for many reasons, including having to leave behind their pet, having to be sober, lacking transportation to a shelter, or not wanting to separated from their "person," who may be the opposite gender. Shelters often require males and females to separate.

That's why City Care plans to do things differently, she said. The organization's shelter will have a pet hotel and family units.

"We're comfortable not knowing how it's going to go," she said. "We're just going to keep trying until we eliminate the number on the streets."

One population that can have a hard time finding a place to stay at night is older youth. Young people that are 16-to-17 years old are too young to stay in an adult shelter. Straughan said the process to get those children emancipated from their parents is lengthy, so it's better to wait until they're 18 years old and a legal adult so they can get adult-specific services.

During the open question session after the panel, an audience member asked about a tiny home community that was being built for older youth. She didn't know if that was true or just rumblings.

Pivot, Inc. Development Director Melanie Anthony stood up and explained the nonprofit's tiny home project. Three homes are nearly completed, with three more soon to start.

The project has had involvement from dozens of companies. Freeman said everyone at the forum luncheon can get involved to help resolve homelessness. Forgotson encouraged the business leaders to become a second-chance employer and try to find where someone with a criminal background could fit into their operation.

At the very least, Freeman asked the group to do what they can to help those in need. Everyone in the room is capable of doing something, she said.

"They're in the wilderness without tools," she said. "And we have the tools. We know how to get laws passed. We know how to convene and rally people. We just need to all pull on the same rope. As business leaders, what you can do is go into the wilderness and find these people without tools and you can mow down a path."