Key to Home Partnership houses 21 people, pets living along the Oklahoma River

Twenty-one people and 19 pets living at SW 25th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, on South Agnew Avenue and along the Oklahoma River are being housed and assigned a case manager thanks to the Key to Home Partnership.

The Key to Home Partnership's goal is to rehouse 500 people experiencing unsheltered, chronic homelessness by the end of 2025. Since September 2023, 126 people living outdoors have been placed in homes through the Partnership's Encampment Rehousing Initiative, marking a 25% achievement of the overall goal.

"By pairing housing and supportive services, our unhoused neighbors will have the tools and resources necessary to end their homelessness," Key to Home Partnership Strategy Implementation Manager Jamie Caves said. "We are excited about the work of Key to Home because addressing the root cause, housing gives people the opportunity to stabilize and ensure their experience with homelessness is brief and time. As we hit 25% of our goal, we want to celebrate the service partners that have come together to make this happen. We've asked them to collaborate in new and innovative ways, and they've risen to the challenge. This milestone indicates their success at bringing this project to fruition and demonstrates the potential impact this initiative can have on our community."

People wanting to help can donate to the Key to Home Partnership at keytohomeokc.org.

Partners

• Staff from Key to Home Partnership, City Care, Mental Health Association and Homeless Alliance provided outreach and engagement services to those living in the encampment.
• City Rescue Mission secured the apartments.
• Focus on Home furnished apartments with necessities.
• OCHA and OHFA assisted with rental subsidies.
• Case managers are provided by the Homeless Alliance, City Care, Catholic Charities and NorthCare, who will help people stabilize and recover over the next year.
• Clean up of encampments is provided by Oklahoma County's SHINE program and Basin.
• OKC Parks and OKC Traffic Management Division helped with signage.
• Healing Hands provided health screenings and emotional support assessments.
• Mental Health Association and Healing Hands provided verifications of disability.

According to the annual Point in Time count, there are more than 1,400 people living on Oklahoma City's streets. Oklahoma City's homelessness rate is a result of a myriad of complex factors, such as low wages, the lack of affordable housing, rising eviction rates and inflation.

Key to Home Partnership

To address homelessness differently in Oklahoma City, a new system of governance called the Key to Home Partnership was launched in April 2023. Key to Home is a public-private partnership of over 40 agencies whose mission is to prevent and end homelessness in OKC alongside the City of OKC and the private sector.

The Key to Home Partnership's action plan is to reduce unsheltered homelessness through housing. The four goals for 2023-2025 include:

1. Create a new governance system.
2. Address homelessness differently by improving infrastructure and capacity.
3. Achieve a reduction in Youth Homelessness by rehousing or diverting 100 youth by the end of 2025.
4. Achieve a reduction in chronic Unsheltered Homelessness by rehousing 500 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by the end of 2025.

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Media Contact: Jamie Caves, (405) 205-4916

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