Tulsa’s old Juvenile Justice Center is being recommissioned.
It will serve as an emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We have not had an uptick in people experiencing homelessness, but our current shelter system does not allow for physical distancing per the CDC recommendations," said City of Tulsa Housing Policy Director Becky Gligo.
The City of Tulsa is allocating $154,000 from its coming federal COVID-19 response funding to help make it happen. The city has agreements with the Tulsa Day Center to run it during the day and the Salvation Army to run it at night.
"The Day Center’s had to turn some folks away, the Salvation Army is in a very precarious position as well. So, they’ll be able to take current clients and move them over and allow for social distancing so we don’t have we can prevent some community spread in our homeless community," Gligo said.
Both organizations recently limited their shelters' capacities.
The emergency shelter should accommodate 150 people during the day and 58 at night while allowing for recommended distancing requirements.
