Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
Oklahoma Watch | Heather Warlick
In the wee hours of Jan. 23, volunteers took to the frigid streets to find, count and survey people sleeping unsheltered in Norman. These volunteers not only count the homeless, but also register them into the Homeless Management Information System to connect them with case workers for future assistance.
The Point in Time counts were performed simultaneously in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Lawton and Norman.
Recent Point in Time counts revealed a 25% increase in homelessness from 2023 to 2024 in Oklahoma. During that period, coalitions of service providers have actively been rehousing people experiencing homelessness, but rising rents, shortages in low-income housing and growing eviction rates slash hope this year’s count will drop.
If proposed legislation is an indication, some Oklahoma lawmakers plan to spend session time peddling bills aimed at penalizing the more than 4,000 Oklahomans experiencing homelessness in their own communities.
Broadening Oklahoma’s Camping Ban
HB 1764 by Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, amends the anti-camping law of 2024, expanding the ban to include not just state-owned property, but also county and city-owned lands.
Homeless people violating this camping ban would face the same penalties as those charged with sleeping on state property: $50 fines and up to 15 days in jail.
The 2024 legislation that created the original laws criminalizing sleeping on state-owned property was derived directly from model legislation provided by The Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank in Austin influencing receptive states such as Oklahoma.
Expanding the scope of the camping ban aligns with The Cicero Institute’s campaign. An article on the group’s website touts the success the Austin group has enjoyed in Oklahoma, stating: “This is Oklahoma, not Seattle or San Francisco—we do things differently here. When a neighbor is struggling, we offer a helping hand.”
The article continues, “Camping restrictions provide a path forward to positive change, one that is foreclosed under failed federal Housing First policies.”
A Norman ‘Dumpster Fire’
Senate Bill 484, filed by Sen. Lisa Standrige, R-Norman, received national media attention and created local contention. The bill would prohibit cities with fewer than 300,000 residents from using municipal money to support homeless services such as emergency shelters and food banks.
Oklahoma only has two cities with populations greater than 300,000 – Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Standridge clarified that the bill would not affect the work of nonprofits and churches to provide services to people experiencing homelessness; it would only dictate city spending.
Standridge’s bill directly aims at her hometown shelter, A Friend’s House, which receives a large portion of its funding from the city of Norman. It also seems to target Norman libraries.
Standridge spoke at a mid-January Original Constitutional Principles Affecting Culture meeting, explaining why she authored the bill.
“This is a constituent bill from my town of Norman, which is absolutely a dumpster fire right now in what they’ve done to allow the homeless to establish a vagrant nation if you will,” Standridge told the OCPAC group.
“If you can imagine taking my son to the west side library and having to see a police officer stand at the door because of the vagrants that are camped out at all of the computers,” she said.
Oklahoma Watch visited Norman Public Library West, where eight patrons appeared to be homeless, with bundles of their personal belongings. A couple read quietly at yellow library tables while six used library computers.
A bank of children’s computers sat empty. The library observed its signature silence.
“We don’t have any policy against homeless people,” said Michael Pierson, branch manager at Norman Public Library West. “They can use the services just like everybody else does. They have library cards.”
He said off-duty police officers serve as security guards during business hours when he is not present, but there are few problems.
A Tenuous Lease in Norman
City Care recently signed a six-month contract with the city of Norman to take over operations of A Friend’s House, which has 52 beds. The Salvation Army is the only other shelter in Norman, with 35 beds.
Last year’s Cleveland County Point in Time count found 240 people, including 27 children, sleeping outdoors or in a shelter, primarily in Norman.
Heidi Smith, director of the Thunderbird Clubhouse, the lead administrative agency for the Cleveland County Continuum of Care, said that while Norman has an excellent network of social service nonprofits, they are always underfunded and under-resourced.
“The biggest thing that I’ve heard from people who want to defund homelessness issues is that the churches and nonprofits, they want to step up and operate shelters,” Smith said. “I don’t know of any church or any nonprofit that’s not already doing the very best they can with very limited resources.”
Without city funding, Smith said, A Friend’s House would lose 75% of its capacity.
Rachel Freeman, CEO of City Care, said Norman Mayor Larry Heikkila wants to see A Friend’s House closed down. She said the city has also been discussing relocating the shelter to the Griffin Hospital grounds in the near future.
That’s why City Care signed a relatively short six-month lease with Norman, Freeman said.
At a recent mayoral debate, Heikkila said he favors Standridge’s bill and that Norman can’t afford to continue supporting the city’s homeless population.
His opponents, Stephen Tyler Holman and Riley Mulinix, said they oppose the bill. Mulinix called it heartless; Holman said Norman doesn’t want the state telling the city what to do.
Concern in Lawton for Pass-Through Funding
Most rural towns in Oklahoma have no homeless shelters, city-funded or nonprofit. Even suburban Yukon has very few social services for people experiencing homelessness.
Where shelters do exist, such as Lawton’s Family Promise, they are often funded wholly, or in large part, by federal grants and contracts with the federal government. That money comes from the U.S. Treasury to HUD, FEMA and other federal agencies.
The money is then sent either to county-level agencies leading the local continuums of care, or to city governments to be disbursed or passed through to service providers.
Sarah Svec said she is concerned that SB 484 could affect the pass-through funding and in-kind donations she depends on to operate Lawton’s Family Promise 16-bed shelter.
“The county owns my building, and as an in-kind donation, we get to stay here without paying rent,” Svec said. “So those kinds of things definitely affect me.”
Rural service deserts have no shelters and very few services available, but homelessness in rural areas is different than in urban areas, Svec said.
“I think the taxpayers should have the opportunity to say where they want their dollars to go,” Sven said. “I think (Standridge) probably doesn’t know anything except for numbers.”
Oklahoma Watch called and emailed Standridge and her assistant multiple times for comment, but received no response.
Stadridge told OCPAC she had received hate emails about the bill from people experiencing homelessness.
“I think if you have the wherewithal to understand this bill, to hear it, to go to the library and email me about it then I think you have what it takes to maybe hold down a job,” Standridge told the OCPAC group.
Data shows that between 40% and 60% of people experiencing homelessness have jobs.
Freeman said that during the first weeks after taking over A Friend’s House, City Care is working on connecting Norman’s unhoused population with supportive housing.
She wants the Oklahoma Legislature to know that providing supportive housing to unhoused Oklahomans is 50% cheaper than the costs incurred by service providers combating the effects of homelessness.
“It’s not even just a moral issue, if that doesn’t ring the bell for you,” she said. “It’s a fiscal one. It’s fiscally responsible to support our community’s most vulnerable neighbors.”
Oklahoma Watch, at oklahomawatch.org, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state.
Heather Warlick is a reporter covering evictions, housing and homelessness.
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