TULSA, Okla. — The continued heatwave in Oklahoma doesn't just pose a risk to those working outdoors, but also those living outdoors.
Today 2 News followed Tulsa Housing Solutions outreach specialists as they distributed water and cooling towels to those experiencing homelessness.
Many of the people we talked to are battling extreme heat, all while trying to survive without a roof over their heads.
The extreme temperatures have forced housing solutions to shift its focus from case management to providing heat relief, in order to help people get into housing.
Whitney Crawford and Nicholas Parker are outreach specialists with Tulsa Housing Solutions. Every day they pack their backpacks with water, cooling towels, and electrolytes and drive around town to visit homeless encampments to provide some relief from the heat.
While meeting some of their physical needs, they also try to build relationships in hopes to establish trust.
“My girlfriend got housing through housing solutions, but I haven’t known…I lost my ID and everything, but I haven’t no – I lost my ID and everything…," one gentleman said.
"So, is that something you’d be interested in doing?," Crawford asked him.
"Possibly,” he replied.
Crawford said during these visits they often find heat is not the only struggle.
“So this is a pretty established camp, but it looks like there are new faces there…and they had one of their family members, one of their campmates pass away it looks like in the middle of the month, and so they’re really just stuggling trying to figure out how to move on and they’re not real open to receiving help from the outside They don’t trust us," she said.
"They may not trust the rest of the city or the community to take care of them in this moment in time so this is where it’s really important for us to maintain and establish a good relationship with them so that they know that we are here,” Crawford added.
After visiting the first encampment, we stopped by a second one.
There, we met Richard, his wife, son, and two dogs.
“I was let go from my job and we ended up losing you know, we couldn’t pay for the motel so we ended up in my car, so that’s why we’re here," Richard said.
A family of five living inside their car, simply trying to survive.
“It’s not easy that’s for sure, because we have our dogs, it’s hard for us to go into shelters or anything like that or have anybody help us, because and I’m not giving up my dogs,” he said.
Richard said while they do their best with what they have, the heat has made their living conditions more difficult. His wife said one of their dogs has already had two seizures.
The heat also taking a toll on their health..
“It’s a struggle, the heat won’t help,” Richard said.
Richard said the journey to get back on their feet hasn't been easy since he doesn't have the necessary documentation.
“My son lost his wallet, my social security card is in there, so now I have to get another one and my birth certificate,” he said.
Even if Richard had all his documents, he said he's not in a position financially to cover the expenses involved with applying for housing.
“What it is they want you to make three times your amount that you make plus, then they get you where you go get your application fee…so you go get that application fee…that’s three of us…so that’s like 25 dollars or 75 dollars that’s 150 and then that’s non-refundable, they keep it. That’s like 150 dollars out of your pocket that you can’t afford,” he said.
Housing Solutions said their outreach team will continue providing relief as long as the hot weather continues.
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