Local Man Hopes To Help Humanize Tulsa’s Homeless Through Documentary Projects

A Green Country man is making documentaries with homeless people in Tulsa in hopes of humanizing their struggles and connecting them with resources to get them off the streets.

Evan Dougoud has a full-time job, plenty of hobbies and friends but he spends his free time at homeless camps across Tulsa. You will see him, camera in hand, asking people who are living on the streets, what their day-to-day life is like: what they eat, how they cook, how they wash their clothes, how they keep themselves safe.

"I always ask, what do you want to be remembered for," Dougoud said.  

Dougoud spends hours having conversations. Then he goes home and edits the videos together, with the goal of humanizing the struggles of Tulsa's homeless for his non-profit the BeHeard Movement.

"A lot of times when people see others experiencing homelessness, they don't really see what they are going through," said Dougoud. "By me letting their voices be heard, people are able to see their stories from a different perspective."

Dougoud also wants to connect Tulsa’s homeless with resources to help them get the help they need, whether that is mental health treatment, substance abuse treatment, housing forms, or maybe all that person needs is a place where they can feel safe to sleep at night.

"I thought when I got into this work, I was going to change everybody's life- be that guy, but it turns out everybody changed my life," said Dougoud.

Dougoud said he has big dreams for his nonprofit, and he hopes to partner with churches in the area next.

To contact Dougoud or learn more about the BeHeard Movement, you can message him through his Facebook Page here.