Housing Solutions Tulsa Updates Effort To Make Homes More Affordable

Some people who lived in the Vista Shadow Mountain apartment complex said they're just now getting adjusted to their new living arrangements.

Residents there were forced to move last year when fire marshals deemed the complex unsafe due to damage caused by flooding when pipes broke.

A local nonprofit stepped in to help many of those families, but leaders say the work to make affordable housing available to everyone is far from over.

Leaders with Housing Solutions said they made good progress last year in getting people into affordable housing, but they are still in crisis mode.

Regina Edwards is a former tenant at Vista Shadow Mountain.

She was able to find a new home after having to move out with the help of housing solutions, but she says it's been an adjustment.

"It's taken me some time because I moved there in September and actually, I'm just now getting actually settled in, not just moving in, just my whole life period," Edwards said.

Leaders at the non-profit said they've been able to help all but three of the old Vista Shadow Mountain tenants find new places to live.

But experts said the past year has presented new challenges for many Tulsa families.

Housing Solutions Executive Director Becky Gligo said rent prices are up by 12 percent in Tulsa County.

"It's taken months for folks to find a new place to live," Gligo said.

Gligo said one of the biggest challenges is keeping people housed long-term.

She says 87 percent of the people her organization has helped have stayed in a home for at least two years.

She believes making housing affordable for everyone can be achieved with the help of the community.

"If we can solve it anywhere, it's in a community like Tulsa that's so generous," Gligo said. "Our numbers are so much smaller than you might see on like a coastal city. We just have to come together as a community to do it and follow the strategic plan to get there. But I absolutely think this is solvable."

Edwards said she is grateful that help came when she needed it most.

"They really kind of helped me a whole lot you know," Edwards said. "God is good because I did find a nice place to move to."

Housing Solutions says as of January 28th, just a little more than 1000 people in Tulsa are experiencing homelessness.