Tulsa Organizations Help People Experiencing Homelessness During Extreme Cold

While some people might be able to bundle up in a warm home during freezing temperatures, the homeless community can sometimes be forgotten 

Housing Solutions is a non-profit organization dedicated to building systems that work to eliminate homelessness in Tulsa. The team wanted to help those who needed shelter from the cold.  

"We realized that every shelter in town which has pretty much been in capacity since the pandemic was full and so we knew we needed to open up a pop-up shelter and we ended up having even more people than we anticipated," Wade said.  

The team housed about 130 individuals during the dangerous weather conditions. 

"We had an incredible help from all over the community. One of the things that were most vital to us was some of our agency partners that deal with mental help was on hand to help us with the different crises that people deal with when they are in survival mode like this," Wade said.  

Along with food and shelter, other agencies stepped up to lend a hand. 

"When we heard about this, we knew we wanted to be a part of it to come in and staff our clinicians to provide mental health services to those in crisis because not only are they sheltering from extreme weather, it's also the holidays and we know the holidays are hard for a lot of people," Cox said.  

There were about a dozen clinicians on site who volunteered to help. Cox said many were able to schedule appointments for after the holidays or get back on their medication.  

"We're able to step in and help them manage those symptoms, link them with the resources to meet their basics needs to manage their emotions," Cox said.