TULSA, Okla. — Leaders from four of Tulsa’s most active homeless outreach organizations are speaking out about the lasting impacts of Governor Kevin Stitt’s “Operation SAFE.”
Representatives from the Tulsa Day Center, John 3:16 Mission, Youth Service of Tulsa, and the Tulsa BeHeard Movement participated in a recent panel discussion, raising serious concerns about how the large-scale sweep of homeless encampments disrupted progress for some of Tulsa’s most vulnerable residents.
Operation SAFE, which lasted two weeks, resulted in the removal of 60 homeless camps and more than one million pounds of debris, according to the governor’s office.
More than 200 people were reportedly displaced during the sweeps. Outreach workers said the operation caused major setbacks for people who were actively working toward housing.
“When mass displacement happens, especially without coordination with service providers, it’s hard to keep track of everybody and where they went,” said Josh Sanders, Director of Street Outreach for the Tulsa Day Center. “We’re also finding that people are hiding now because they don’t want to be found again.”
Beth Svetlick, Assistant Executive Director of Youth Services of Tulsa, said their teams depend on knowing where people are in order to maintain contact and provide services.
“Our outreach teams rely on knowing where those camp sites are, because without an address, that’s how theft tracks down the individual they’re trying to connect to housing,” said Svetlick.
Outreach groups said people lost essential items during the sweeps, including IDs, birth certificates, and medications. Some residents had to choose between keeping their jobs or staying behind to protect their belongings from being thrown away.
“We’ve had to purchase IDs for people who lost them,” said Evan Dougood, founder and CEO of the Tulsa BeHeard Movement. “At the end of the day, partnerships with the Day Center, Youth Services and John 3:16 are making it happen — but we are stretched thin. All organizations are. But we’re going to keep helping people regardless of Operation SAFE.”
Sanders said many people who were displaced are now scattered across the city, and outreach teams are working to locate them and reconnect them to services.
“There are locations where people have been staying for quite a while,” Sanders said. “Now people are finding new spots, and our teams are out there making sure services are coming to them — and more importantly, that we’re working on housing where they are. That’s how we end homelessness — with housing.”
Dougoud added that building trust remains a crucial step in helping people transition off the streets.
“People want to be housed,” Dougoud said. “They don’t want to be experiencing homelessness. Creating space for them — to have showers, laundry, housing, and feel human again — that’s the next step. And they deserve it.