Safe Move Tulsa set to surpass initial housing goal of 300 in coming weeks; 25 total encampments now closed through Safe Move Tulsa, 94% of people housed remain in housing
The City of Tulsa today announced that it has decommissioned 13 encampments along the Admiral Corridor, stretching from Yale Avenue to Memorial Drive, as Safe Move Tulsa continues its work to connect people experiencing homelessness with housing and keep long-term encampments from returning.
The effort included coordinated outreach, connections to housing and supportive services, and cleanup of the sites. The majority of people living in the encampments have now been housed, while others continue working with service providers toward housing and stability. In total, 85 people have been housed and/or are being connected with housing from the effort. The closure focused on areas near the I-244 corridor from Lewis Avenue to Pittsburg Avenue, from Sheridan Road to Memorial Drive, and near the Admiral Twin Drive-In.
“Safe Move Tulsa is about getting people into housing, helping them stay there, and making sure our public spaces are not returning to long-term encampments,” Mayor Monroe Nichols said. “We have made real progress, and the work along the Admiral Corridor shows what can happen when the City, housing providers, neighborhood partners and the community work together. We know there is more work ahead, but we are committed to continuing this effort because we know it’s working.”
The closure of these encampments along the Admiral Corridor marks another milestone in Safe Move Tulsa's broader strategy to reduce unsheltered homelessness, connect people to housing, and improve conditions for surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.
“The work along the Admiral Corridor shows how coordinated outreach, consistency and strong partnerships can improve the safety and wellbeing of both residents and those experiencing homelessness,” Council Chair Karen Gilbert said. “I am grateful to our public safety teams, nonprofit and outreach partners, business community and the residents of Tulsa for their collaborative efforts to keep our public spaces safe, clean and accessible across our city.”
The effort along Admiral has also received support from local businesses and community organizations, including Kendall Whittier Main Street, which has worked with the City to address concerns about conditions in the area. The City hopes this progress will provide continued relief for businesses, residents and visitors farther east along Admiral.
Given this recent work, the City is now nearing its original goal of helping 300 people transition from long-term encampments into housing and anticipates surpassing that milestone in the coming weeks. At the same time, the City and its partners continue working to expand rapid exits from shelter and reach the broader goal of 1,300 exits from homelessness by the end of the year.
From an Initial Goal of 300 to a Broader Goal of 1,300
When the City of Tulsa launched Safe Move Tulsa in fall 2025 with an initial $6 million investment, the strategy was focused on a specific challenge: decommissioning long-term encampments and helping the people living in them transition into housing with the support needed to remain housed.
The City set an initial goal of helping 300 people exit homelessness through this effort by the end of 2026. That work involves outreach to people living in encampments, connecting them with housing and supportive services, decommissioning the sites, and working to prevent those encampments from returning.
As Safe Move Tulsa began to take shape, local partners stepped forward with additional financial support, including $4 million from the Tulsa Leadership Council and $1 million from the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation. That support allowed the City and its partners to expand the strategy beyond encampment rehousing and introduce additional ways to help people exit homelessness more quickly.
With those additional resources, Safe Move Tulsa established a second goal: helping 1,000 people exit homelessness through rapid-exit-from-shelter-strategies by the end of 2026. Rapid exits are light-touch interventions (i.e. a security deposit, a few months of rent, or reunification with family transportation, etc.) to help end someone’s homelessness quickly.
Together, the two goals represent a broader target of helping 1,300 people exit homelessness (300 through encampment housing efforts and 1,000 through rapid-exit strategies). To date, 538 people have exited homelessness through rapid-exit strategies. Combined with the people housed through encampment-to-housing efforts, Tulsa has helped 820 people exit homelessness through the strategy this year alone.
“The progress we're seeing through Safe Move Tulsa is significant, but the true impact is what that means for the people who now have a place to call home,” said Mark Smith, CEO of Housing Solutions. “These results reinforce that housing must remain at the center of our response to homelessness, and that investing in the people and organizations doing this work is essential to helping more of our neighbors find stability.”
Keeping Encampments Closed and People Housed
As the City works to further decommission encampments, its focus extends beyond the initial cleanup. Outreach teams and service providers continue to connect people with resources, while the City works to prevent long-term encampments from becoming reestablished at previously addressed sites.
These sites includes areas all across Tulsa, including the entirety of Downtown Tulsa within the IDL.
Of the people rehoused from encampments decommissioned through Safe Move Tulsa, 96% have remained in housing to date. City officials attribute that progress in part to the ongoing support services that help people maintain housing after placement.
The City has now closed 25 long-term encampments through its efforts this year, and none of those sites has returned to a long-term encampment.
While these results do not mean that no one will ever sleep outdoors in these areas ever again, it does mean the City will continue to work the areas to prevent the return of sustained encampments for the benefit of nearby businesses and residents.
Coordinated Approach to Homelessness
Safe Move Tulsa draws on recommendations from Clutch Consulting and the 2024 Path to Home recommendations developed by the Mayor's 3H Task Force. Those recommendations called for a coordinated approach to decommissioning encampments, expanding housing options, improving the flow of people through the shelter system and strengthening prevention efforts.
The City's broader homelessness response also includes development of The Harbor, Tulsa's new low-barrier shelter, and the Tulsa Eviction Mitigation Coalition, which brings local partners together to address factors contributing to housing instability.
The City's FY2027 budget includes $23.5 million for a multiyear response to homelessness, including an additional $500,000 for operations at The Harbor, which is expected to open in December.
Residents can learn more about Safe Move Tulsa, explore the initiative's new data and analytics tool, and track progress at: www.SafeMoveTulsa.com
More information about the 3H Task Force's Path to Home recommendations is available at: www.cityoftulsa.org/PathToHome
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