Oklahoma City sees rise in homelessness; over 1,800 affected in latest count

OKLAHOMA CITY- (KOKH) — On Friday, Oklahoma City released the 2024 Point In Time Count, detailing the number of people in the city experiencing homelessness.

"What we hear from the public is that there's a perception that homelessness is on the rise," said Meghan Mueller, CEO of the OKC Homeless Alliance.

And that perception is correct. The latest figures from the count show that 1,838 people were homeless; an increase of 402 people from last year's count.

Mueller said these numbers aren't surprising.

"This was really the first count we've done since the expiration of COVID era funds, so we were really anticipating this count coming out, because we really felt like it would reveal a lot about the current state of homelessness in our community," she said.

The count found that out of those some 1,800 people, 7% are veterans, 17% are families with children, 9% are unaccompanied youth 24 or younger, and 24% are unsheltered. But Mueller said it's not all bad.

"Chronic unsheltered homelessness is down, which is great, because that's where a lot of resources have been focused over the past year in particular, so it's good to see that we have moved the needle with that sub population specifically," she said.

However, Mueller added other societal challenges have also contributed to the city seeing more people experiencing homelessness for the first time.

"[It] May be the result of pandemic-era funds running out, the result of high inflation, high eviction numbers, we feel like that's a real opportunity to intervene and work with people on identifying family and natural supports," she said.

Mueller said now that they have more accurate data to go by, they have a better idea of what they need to do to be more effective in addressing homelessness.

You can read the full report here.