The head of a local nonprofit organization detailed Tulsa’s housing and homelessness challenges in a presentation to the Chamber’s Executive Committee on Monday.

Mark Smith, CEO of Housing Solutions Tulsa, was part of a dialogue led by Jonathan Long, the Chamber’s vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“We continue to see homelessness rise,” Smith said.

As the lead agency in the HUD-funded Tulsa County Continuum of Care, Housing Solutions coordinates and manages more than $4 million annually in federal, state, county and city funds for programs providing shelter, housing and services to people experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness.

Smith’s visit to Chamber leadership came as Tulsa is struggling to combat homelessness and keep up with housing demand.

The 2023 Tulsa Citywide Housing Assessment determined a need for nearly 13,000 new housing units in the next 10 years.

Also, earlier this month, Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols signed an executive order focused on achieving functional zero homelessness in the city by 2030.

The directive includes the creation of an encampment decommissioning team, plans to establish a winter weather shelter and increase shelter capacity in general, as well as the formation of a Mayor’s Coalition of Eviction Mitigation.

The mayor has described functional homelessness as homelessness that is “rare, brief and nonrecurring.”

A total of 46% of Tulsans spend more than 30% of their income on rent, Smith said.

“What we often see is that when prices go up, people who can will make smart decisions or downsize, or maybe move into an apartment that’s more affordable,” he said. “That always creates downward pressure when we’re not adding units to the market.

“So, you find that eventually the folks with an extremely low income or people in large households or people who are struggling with employment or senior citizens living off Social Security, they are continually going to find it harder and harder to find a place they can afford. That’s where you see more people becoming housing unstable or falling into homelessness.”

Smith placed the latest homeless count in Tulsa at close to 1,500.

“We are currently housing people out of encampments right now,” Smith said. “But it is in ones and twos. So, you don’t see a difference if you drive by and one tent is gone.”

But housing is expensive. The average cost to take a person off the street, pair the individual with a case manager and cover rent for a year is $25,000, Smith said.

“That sounds like a lot,” he said. “But we know that public costs related to law enforcement, emergency room, public sanitation and economic impact are at least three times that for the unsheltered homeless, specifically. You have to pay for it, but the savings are pretty significant.

“The vast majority of people who are homeless that we talk to do want to get into housing. They do want to take the next step.”