Nonprofit’s Vision For 2021: ‘Give Dignity, Hope’ To Tulsa’s Homeless Population

The City Lights Foundation of Oklahoma has been fighting homelessness as COVID-19 pushed more people into poverty.

Executive Director, Sarah Ground said their vision for 2021 will be the same as 2020: give dignity and hope to people experiencing homelessness.

With the pandemic and colder temperatures, Grounds said they’ve been doing more wellness checks for the homeless in Tulsa. 

“We usually take sandwiches with us and coffee and hot chocolate,” Grounds said.

Grounds said COVID-19 has made community outreach more difficult this year.  

Since May, City Lights has been sheltering folks at their hotel as they’ve sheltered more than 150 people that don’t have COVID and more than 50 people that do. They currently have 70 people living in the hotel.

“We are in maximum capacity with all of the residents that we have here,” Grounds said.

Grounds said their vision for 2021 is to place more of their residents into permanent housing. City Lights has been able to place 40 people into permanent housing this year.

Grounds said with local shelters at maximum capacity and the rise in COVID-19 cases, next year won’t only be about giving more people a place to call home, but also empowering others to step up and volunteer.

“I think we have nothing but good to look forward to and we will keep working to bring people together,” Grounds said.

To find out how you can help the non-profit tackle 2021, click here.