Finding Help (OKC)

Accessing Services that Will Help You if You're Homeless

I met a woman once who waited until she felt safe with me to tell me she had been homeless for several months after her husband died suddenly. She said her grief kept her from functioning and she ended up living in her car.

Living in a car is not all that unusual among the homeless. Getting people out of their cars is hard though. On my Nextdoor App I frequently see someone asking for assistance who is living in their car. When you tell them to go to Homeless Alliance’s Day Shelter and speak with an advocate there, they tell you they can’t. They have all kinds of reasons, but most of them are just a plausible excuse that gets them off the hook. The latest woman seeking help told me she couldn’t leave her car because “all her things” were in her car. Fear of being robbed of their possessions is very common among the homeless. It is one of the hurdles most shelters have to overcome in order to get people in the door — believe it or not. Our night shelter has lockers that can be used to lock up personal items. I believe the Day Shelter does too, but I’m not 100% sure. Yet, right outside the door of the Night Shelter, until just recently, there were probably somewhere from 50 to 100 people living in tents in the median on General Pershing.

Another thing you will hear is a dislike for the rules. They get used to living by their wits and don’t want structure imposed on them. Yet structure is what needs to be imposed. Having rules, expectations and accountability is how a person goes from homeless on the street to housed. It may look different at different times, but basically that is the means to move towards housing.

So, where do you start if you are homeless here in OKC. Start at the Day Shelter. Homeless Alliance has put several services in one location in order to provide help without having to have transportation. However, you first have to get to the Resource Center which is located at the corner of 1724 NW 4th Street and N. Virginia Ave. Embark runs buses to this location. The Embark lines are 007, 008, 009 and 038. Check with the bus driver when you board to be sure you’re on a line that goes to the Resource Center. There are special conditions under which Embark is free to the homeless. One of those is extreme bad weather. But expect a fee. The cost is dependent on how far you ride.

If you are currently at a homeless shelter, then City Care runs the M.O.E buses to the Resource Center and that is free.

Now, be aware, you are going to have to get out of your car and go in the Resource Center to talk to an advocate.

While you're down there checking out the Resource Center you might want to know if you go to the Day Shelter you will have access to breakfast and lunch, showers, and mail service, a volunteer-ran barbershop, and access to classes, activities, and services. Services include health clinics, Legal Aid, payee services, mental health care, employment programs, DHS, STI testing, veterans' programs, and other services. Not all services are available at all times. One stop shopping! What could be easier.

It amazes me that so much help is available in just one place, yet it is so difficult to get people to go access it. If you’re in the position of trying to help someone get off the streets, at least now you know more of what help is available, so when you talk to them you aren’t giving them an undefined answer to their situation. You can say what they can access at the shelter. That leaves them with very little wiggle room as to why they won’t go.

That’s when the rubber meets the road and many times you are going to find out that they don’t want a solution that requires they take action. They want you to put a band-aid on their problems and say, rent a motel room for them for the night or put gas in their car or give them money. None of those things are going to work long term. I don’t care for band-aids. There are plenty of band-aid appliers working with the homeless. And for some, that is all they will ever accept, so just to get them through this day, that is all you can do.

Don’t feel guilty. Arm yourself with facts. Give them good advice and stand back and let them take action ….. or not.