GREENWOOD Dist. – On Tuesday, December 10, the Housing Partnership Network (HPN) joined forces with Tulsa city organizations to announce an initiative to transform the city’s housing landscape.
Unveiled at the historic Greenwood Cultural Center, this decade-long effort will bring affordable housing to Tulsa and expand pathways to homeownership for its residents.
Backed by Housing Forward, The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation, and CDFI Friendly Tulsa, the initiative seeks to address systemic challenges in housing access. “This actually began with a grant from the Commemoration Fund to Green Country Habitat for Humanity in 2021,” explained Bill Major, President of The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation.
“The ongoing mission of the fund is to support bold and innovative efforts to correct social, political, and economic injustices that impact people of color in our community.”
Lessons from New Orleans and Detroit
Tulsa was chosen as the third city for HPN’s partnership, following its successful efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the housing and bankruptcy crisis in Detroit, where it revitalized neighborhoods by addressing blighted properties.
Hughes highlighted the alarming scale of housing inadequacy across the nation. “Right here in the state of Oklahoma, there are nearly 170,000 households that are paying more than 50% of their income in rent. Here in Tulsa, as you heard earlier from the mayor, 46% of renters are cost-burdened. That means they’re paying more than 30% of their income to cover housing costs,” she said.
The Alarming Reality of Housing Insecurity in Tulsa
Mayor Monroe Nichols emphasized the critical need to address the housing crisis, noting the detrimental effects on families and the city’s future. “We know that housing is the number one cause of homelessness, including the at least 900 students at Tulsa public schools who are homeless as we sit here today.”
Nichols added that systemic inequities have led to chronic absenteeism and academic challenges for students in housing-insecure families.
Mayor Nichols’ Commitment to Equity and Growth
Increasing affordable housing and ending homelessness were two of the pillars that Nichols ran on in his campaign for mayor. The partnership is providing him with early momentum on those initiatives. He mentioned the impact this will have on the city of Tulsa and its future and how this initiative is more than a win on policy.
“I know it’s not just a huge win from a policy perspective, but I think about the lives changed as we begin to make sure that folks were reducing the cost burden for affordable housing, but also closing the wealth gap through housing,” he told the Black Wall Street Times.
He continued, “It has an impact on everything from economic development to education and certainly to even equity. So I can’t think of a more important issue that’s a cross-cutting, and that’s why it’s so important for us to be here today.”
Dr. Joyce McClellan of CDFI Friendly Tulsa stressed the importance of collective effort, stating that the initiative’s success will depend on active engagement from all stakeholders.
With the collaborative efforts of city leaders, nonprofit organizations, and housing experts, Tulsa aims to tackle systemic inequities in housing, paving the way for a more equitable and thriving community. In January, HPN and Tulsa stakeholders, led by a senior housing adviser, will begin planning the detailed implementation of the affordable housing initiative.
I hope affordable housing is not just to build for future homeowners and the homeless. No middle road.
I hope it addresses the working public who are not homeless. Just need a lower rent. Not housing voucher and public housing projects for non-working , healthy young men to commit crime in an already high crime city of Tulsa.
Lastly, It should include senior housing.