Progress made in Tulsa’s affordable housing crisis – KTUL

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) The Tulsa Housing Authority said it's making progress in tackling a lack of affordable housing for Tulsans who need it.

The agency said results from this year's Point In Time count showed that a lack of affordable housing was a leading cause in Tulsans experiencing homelessness.

"For the first time in Tulsa's history the number one reported cause of homelessness was the lack of affordable housing," said Vice President of Communications & Public Affairs for the Tulsa Housing Authority Ginny Hensley.

Hensley said the agency has been working to improve that problem around the city. Last year it purged its public housing waitlist for the first time since 2017.

The purge cleared over 13,000 names from the list and required citizens still interested to reapply. Hensley said the purge was ultimately beneficial to get the agency in touch with people who actually still needed the help.

"It just reduces the amount of time that it takes to get people in homes," said Hensley. "We had reached a point where the data was no longer valid."

Hensley said outdated contact information and people telling the agency that they no longer needed the assistance had previously made the process more tedious than it needed to be.

Hensley said the agency is still required to call or attempt to contact, anyone who applies for public housing.

"Since we purged that waitlist we now have over 9,000 folks just on the waitlist for public housing," said Hensley.

Hensley said the agency is also making strides on its Choice Neighborhoods project. NewsChannel 8 was invited out Thursday to witness the demolishment of the Comanche Park community center. It's part of the agency's Comanche Park community that also serves as a public housing option for Oklahomans in need.

The 36th Street North project will include about 550 mixed-income units in north Tulsa which the agency said is about halfway along from its 2025 expected completion.

"A $200 million improvement in affordable housing, mixed-income community here in north Tulsa," said Hensley Thursday when asked about the potential benefit.

The agency said residents of Comanche Park will have the first choice of housing units available when the project concludes, in hopes of helping expand and encourage prosperity within the community.

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Progress made in Tulsa's affordable housing crisis - KTUL