Oklahoma City Sees Spike In Homeless Population

Thursday, August 11th 2016, 12:29 pm

By: Karl Torp

The homeless population in Oklahoma City has increased by just over 16% in the past year, according to the results of a survey.

The survey was compiled in January, and shows the homeless population in OKC is at 1,511 people.

In the past year, there’s been an increase in the number of OKC homeless families and veterans.

“It’s disheartening for us because we've had so much success,” said Homeless Alliance Executive Director Dan Straughan.

Straughan blamed the economic downturn as the main reason for the rise and said Tulsa, Lawton and Norman are also experiencing an increase in their homeless populations.

For several years, OKC homeless population had been going down due to several programs including nationwide campaigns to get people off the streets.

Straughan said he felt there was an increase in the homeless population before the results of the study.

“The rate of inflow is greater than we've been able to accommodate,” added Straughan.