TULSA, Okla. — Lack of affordable housing, loss of income, mental health struggles and job loss are just a few of the contributing factors to homelessness here in Tulsa.
Volunteers with Housing Solutions canvassed the city to conduct a point-in-time count to assess the number of people living without a home.
Brian Raska spends his days searching for his next meal, something to wear and a warm place to sleep.
He’s been homeless for three years now and says it’s not sleeping on the ground or even fighting the cold temps that’s the hardest part.
Raska says it’s not knowing what each day is going to bring or who is going to have a problem with you.
He says he constantly has to be on alert to others trying to steal from him or even harm him at times.
"So you stay at the Salvation Army and it's fine until you leave your stuff there and you're robbed blind especially if you go to sleep. I mean every little thing if someone can steal, they will and so I try not to stay over there unless it's in climate weather when it was snowing and stuff,” said Raska.
Raska says he does have a case manager, but so far, it hasn’t been successful.
2 News asked him what led to him becoming homeless.
“Well, different curveballs of life I guess you would call it and some mental illness is what I attribute to my homelessness,” said Raska.
Volunteers with Housing Solutions spent the day canvassing the streets of Tulsa trying to get an accurate head count of people like Brian as part of this year’s point-in-time count.
“We have an incredible team of volunteers that is spearheaded by Housing Solutions here in Tulsa. They do a very thoughtful job of pairing volunteers with community providers and so no one is going out alone and everyone is safe,” said Ginny Hensley, A Way Home for Tulsa Chair.
Not only does the team work to get an accurate count, they also survey the homeless to learn more about their walk of life and what led to them losing shelter.
According to a 2023 Homeless Data Report, the point-in-time count revealed that Tulsa had over 1100 individuals experiencing homelessness on a particular night in January.
Volunteers will also be surveying tomorrow as well.
This will help determine federal funding and other resources to address homelessness here in our area.
For more information, you can visit www.housingsolutionstulsa.org.
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