Oklahoma City to Build Downtown Campus for Homeless Services

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The city of Oklahoma City is planning to pump millions of dollars into helping its more than 1,400 homeless regain a place to call home.

A warehouse represents hope for the homeless community. The city is teaming up with United Way to create a campus for the homeless.

Bob Spinks is president of the United Way of Central Oklahoma. The organization has partnered with Oklahoma City to create a homeless campus at N.W. 3rd and Virginia.

"I think it probably makes sense that if the economic crisis the country is in now continues and Oklahoma City continues to be one of the better places to be, it's probably going to grow," Spinks said.

The idea is to use the building as a day shelter, giving the homeless a place to go during the day and getting them off the streets. This building would be used as a resource center.

"We've had architects, engineers, environmental people they've taken a look at several things and have come up with some preliminary plans," Jane Ferrell with Oklahoma City Planning Department said.

The resource center is being funded by the federal government, including $2.1 million in stimulus money. It will house different agencies and organizations in an effort to end homelessness.

"Lots of agencies, DHS, Social Security, health administration, a lot of our nonprofits, have a place to sit down with the homeless clients and talk with them," Executive Director of the Homeless Alliance Dan Straughan said. "If you can put all those agencies in one place, and moreover not just having them next door, but working together, then you can reduce the amount of time an individual or family stays homeless, cut it by 75 percent just by relocating and collaborating."

Construction should begin on these buildings in about two months. It's hoped this homeless campus will be up and running in about 18 months.