TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum gave his State of the City speech on Tuesday, laying out the city's plans to address mental health, homelessness and public safety.
Bynum announced plans for a mental health recovery center and a low-barrier shelter all as a part of the effort to make Tulsa a globally competitive city.
“We define that along three main lines," Bynum said. "Have to be a safe city. We have to be a city of opportunity for everyone, and we have to be a city where this generation of Tulsans is building a city that they want to leave to the next.”
Bynum is aiming for $500 million in housing investments to provide more homes for Tulsans who need them. The low-barrier shelter differs from Tulsa's current shelter situation as the city says it would eliminate reasons for why people don't have access to the shelter like animals, storage for belongings or lack or personal identification.
A Way Home for Tulsa Leadership Council chair Melanie Stewart released the following statement after Bynum's announcement:
"It’s incredibly exciting for A Way Home for Tulsa’s many partner agencies to have citywide leadership step up and take on the affordable housing crisis in our community. Lack of housing is the number one challenge to reducing homelessness in Tulsa and in every major city across the nation. Mayor Bynum’s call to action will go a long way to ensure Tulsans experiencing homelessness or approaching homelessness will have a safe place to call home."
Here are the topics and solutions Bynum laid out in his speech on Tuesday:
Mental Health Urgent Recovery Center
The city will work to identify $1 million to fund and create Tulsa’s first “mental health urgent recovery center” dedicated entirely to serving children and families in crisis 24/7. This model, called YES Tulsa (Youth Evaluation Services), will be a one-stop triage center for families in immediate mental health crisis. The City will partner with Tulsa County and the State of Oklahoma to build it, and the State will join the federal government in paying for its ongoing operations.
Homelessness Program Funding and Policy Work
For the past two years, the City has funded over $14 million on homeless initiatives representing a 2,500 percent increase in the City’s average annual funding for homelessness programs. This funding has focused on opening emergency shelters, rapid re-housing, outreach services, medical services, and financial assistance. Policy work will continue next year under a newly formed working group to enhance the community’s participation in helping individuals experiencing homelessness.
Open Low Barrier Shelter
In the year ahead, the City will work on opening a low-barrier shelter for those who cannot utilize existing shelter facilities. Currently, Tulsa is one of the largest cities in America that does not have a low-barrier shelter, and a significant percentage of the people who are currently on the streets of Tulsa are there because they have nowhere else to go – the low barrier shelter will help in this regard.
Faith Community Emergency Shelters
Due to extremes in Oklahoma weather, traditional homeless shelters can see their capacities pushed to the limit. With the help of the faith community, supplemental shelter capacity will be available moving forward, ensuring that everyone who needs shelter in extreme weather can access it.
Tulsa Housing Challenge of $500 million
For the next two years, the City of Tulsa will be seeking a total of $500 million so additional housing investments can be developed across the city. This will include direct investment in housing, incentives for private sector investors and anything else that expedites the closure of housing gaps that exist in Tulsa today. If you want to join in this historic effort, please email housing@cityoftulsa.org.
Police Recruitment
To help address retirements and recruit the best police officers in the country, Mayor Bynum announced a $15,000 signing bonus for a graduate of the Tulsa Police Academy. Tulsa police officers have also received major pay boosts over the last few years to help address staffing levels.
Real Time Information Center
Tulsa police are working to stand up a real-time information center, which allows cameras and license plate readers to monitor areas and identify a crime occurring. Through the pilot program, the City has already yielded remarkable results and in only a few months, 50 arrests and more than $600,000 in stolen property has been recovered, including 60 vehicles
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