
ABOUT US
Homelessness is complicated. It's an issue no single organization can solve on its own. It requires the entire community working together to address it effectively. We believe that together, we can end homelessness in OKC.
OUR VISION
We seek to end long-term homelessness in OKC by building the capacity of the community through collaboration with other agencies, identifying and filling gaps in homeless services, bringing nationally-recognized best practices to the community, and working to build a system that is more efficient, rational, and caring.
OUR MISSION
The Homeless Alliance's mission is to rally our community to end homelessness.
WE VALUE
Collaboration
Community
Innovation and creativity
Research and strategy
Nimbleness
People and their right to housing
Compassion regardless of circumstance
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
OUR HISTORY
The Homeless Alliance began as a group of community volunteers concerned about the fractured system of care for people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City. These volunteers visited other communities that had successfully implemented coordinated systems and studied their strategies. After launching with just one employee in a borrowed office in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of OKC, one of the first initiatives of the Homeless Alliance was to begin convening the directors of the community's overnight shelters. From there, the Homeless Alliance conducted a community needs assessment to identify gaps in services and began work to fill those gaps. The organization then developed a software system to track data across the community in order to more strategically address the issue of homelessness.
TODAY
Today, the Homeless Alliance operates a multi-agency homeless resource campus with access to multiple nonprofit and government agencies providing services including health clinics, veterans services, budgeting and legal assistance. The campus also includes Oklahoma City's only low-barrier Day Shelter which serves breakfast and lunch, offers showers, mail service, lockers, phones, computers, a pet kennel and access to classes and other service providers. The Homeless Alliance also has a street outreach team which goes out into the community to find people and connect them with services and operates four low-barrier employment programs including the Curbside Chronicle, Curbside Flowers, Sasquatch Shaved Ice, and Curbside Apparel.
Most importantly, the ultimate goal of the Homeless Alliance is to move people off the streets and into the safety and security of a home, so the organization operates multiple housing programs for people experiencing homelessness including families with children, veterans, victims of domestic violence, people exiting the justice system, people who are HIV positive, and people who are chronically homeless.
The Homeless Alliance is a proud partner of the United Way of Central Oklahoma.
By the Numbers
In 2022, the Homeless Alliance:

835 People Housed
The Homeless Alliance helped house 835 people including families with children, veterans, and single adults through our programs and collaborative initiatives.

16,261 Showers
Our Day Shelter offers the only free, publicly available showers installed in Oklahoma City.

75,484 Meals Served
The Homeless Alliance serves breakfast and lunch to guests at our Day Shelter Monday through Friday.

262 Daily Guests
The Day Shelter served an average of 257 guests each day in 2021. Guests have access to meals, showers, mail, phones, computers, barbers, legal aid, classes, service referrals, and more.

11,555 Unique Guests
There were 8,226 unduplicated people who visited the Day Shelter in 2021.

15,105 People Served
We opened a temporary low-barrier winter night shelter to help fill a gap in shelter beds on nights when temps dropped below freezing.
(winter '21-'22).
Homeless Alliance Leadership Team
Dan Straughan, executive director
Meghan Mueller, associate executive director
Alexandra Dueñez Burns, director of HR
Briawna Nash, director of housing and leasing
Carrie Sauer, director of development
Sonrisa Nowicki, Day Shelter associate director
Taylor Self, director of communications
Ranya Forgotson, director of social enterprise
Robert Stonebraker, special projects
Ghadir Rashaideh, director of finance
Tara Ryan, director of support services
Vincent Gonzalez, director of shelter operations
James Hill, director of security
Whitley O'Connor, social enterprise strategist
Board Officers
Julie Porter Scott, board chair
Suzy Lytle, vice chair
Jordan Sowers, board treasurer
Board of Directors
Brittani Hunter, Spiked Coffee
Christian Guzzy, Hartzog Conger Cason Neville
Frank Turner, Diversion Hub
Jennifer Lyles, RSM US LLP
Jordan Sowers, Shamrock Bank
Julie Porter Scott, Yelp
Mark Gillet, Oklahoma City Housing Authority
Pooja Singhal, SSM Health
Sarah Bytyqi, Verbode
Steve Raybourn, Raydon Exploration
Suzy Lytle, Sandy Beaches Software
Theresa Seitz, OGE
Trisha Koelsch, OGE