Local organizations reflect on efforts to assist homeless during winter storms

Feb. 28—After harsh winter conditions swept the state earlier this month, Norman community leaders and local organizations who assist those without homes hope to use this as experience to better prepare for similar weather in the future.

The two record-breaking winter storms forced many Norman residents to limit driving and stay at home, but for those without homes, finding shelter from the arctic conditions often means receiving help from organizations like Salvation Army of Cleveland County, the City of Norman, Food and Shelter of Norman and the Social Injustice League of Norman.

Michelle Evans, homeless programming coordinator for the City of Norman, said providing for unhoused people in Norman is a combined effort from the aforementioned organizations to create an effective continuum of care.

"We all come together to address homelessness," Evans said. "Whether it's a cold weather event, in the middle of the summer, a tornado, no matter what it is, we immediately go into action."

Evans said she's in frequent correspondence with local agencies to determine tasks and offer collaborative support. She said the the city's warming shelters, which run from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. during the coldest months of the year, were key to providing for those without homes.

"... We also required transportation because during extreme cold, we want to make sure that folks are able to get to the shelter," Evans said. "Food and Shelter and Salvation Army provided their vans and their staff members helped get the individuals to and from the shelter."

Evans said there is an extensive list of case managers who go out to ensure that homeless individuals are taken care of. She said to follow through with that mission, communication was paramount.

Leona Chapman, the Salvation Army of Cleveland County's director of social services, said when the cold weather hit and the snow was moving in, the organization decided to open its shelter 24 hours a day. The all-day shelter offering lasted for eight days.

"We do this so guests needing shelter do not have to leave during the day," Chapman said.

Chapman said with those extended hours came the need to provide food and other resources to those in need.

"We provided three meals a day for those individuals as well as laundry services, showers and activities they could do during the day," Chapman said.

Chapman said inclement weather events magnify the importance of relationships within Norman's continuum of care.

"We have weekly meetings, but when a storm hits, we communicate really fast with each other and share our resources," Chapman said. "The biggest thing to learn out of this experience is we saw more community interest."

Chapman said United Way of Norman loaded three vans with blankets donated from the community in addition to other resources.

"There were a number of community volunteers that were out looking for individuals to bring to the shelter who stepped up to make sure that everybody was inside," Chapman said.

Chapman said while the community added an extra layer of assistance, Norman has the resources and infrastructure to handle winter storms should they become a more frequent occurrence.

"I do believe we have sufficient resources, and then the community proves that if we put out the request for something like coffee, I think we had 12 cans of coffee and plenty of styrofoam cups to help people during the day," Chapman said. "We don't normally supply coffee to people all day, but when they're going to be here for 24 hours and it's five degrees, we like to have coffee for people."

Norman City Council member and Social Injustice League co-founder Brandi Studley said there is still work to be done to better care for the city's homeless, particularly during inclement weather. She said there have been multiple studies done with few additional recommendations put into place.

"Every study recommends additional housing and additional shelters," Studley said. "We just have to stop talking about it, put our money where our mouth is and just do the work — that's the bottom line."

Studley said April Heiple, executive director of Food and Shelter, and her team stepped up in the time of crisis.

"If it wasn't for them, we would have been in trouble," Studley said. "They unlocked their doors and the people that couldn't fit in their cafeteria with sleeping bags we put in hotels and partnered with Food and Shelter to share costs, and we paid our part through community donations."

Studley said Heiple received a rental van from a local dealership to help transport people to and from the shelters.

"She got up every morning and picked people up to take them wherever they needed to go and also took people to shelter them overnight, so it was all of us partnering together," Studley said. "The communication was a beautiful thing to watch, but it was also very eye opening ... we have a lot of work to do."

Heiple said the number of people outside far exceeded what the city shelter and Salvation Army shelter could handle by themselves.

"Even though we couldn't provide any beds, we provided people sleeping bags and lots of things that could make them as comfortable as possible," Heiple said.

Heiple said the cost of putting people in motel rooms has totaled over $50,000 to date, which would not have been possible without Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds. If similar winter events happen in the coming year, she is uncertain how organizations would handle overflow needs.

"We spent that amount just to respond to this specific crisis," Heiple said. "There's definitely a lot of worry as to how it will work moving forward."

Heiple said she is thankful for the collaboration of everyone involved, including the Social Injustice League's focus on street outreach.

"They were ready to be out there in the encampments working to identify all our friends who were staying outside, and without them I feel like we wouldn't have been as successful as we were," Heiple said. "This was solely a crisis response, and we were focused on survival, so food and shelter are the very basic needs."

Jeff Elkins covers business, living and community stories for The Transcript. Reach him at Jelkins@normantranscript.com or at @JeffElkins12 on Twitter.