For the first time, Ada is building a day center where people who are homeless have a place to hang out and to get resources, a reflection of a trend in rural Oklahoma of more people having a harder time staying in stable housing.
Sarah Frye, director of Ada Homeless Services, views the center as a positive move by directly addressing a community problem rather than being in denial. It provides a safe shelter for vulnerable people and gives the nonprofit a central place for outreach.
A bonus will be getting more accurate data on how many people are homeless in the city of about 16,500 residents.
“We have a set amount of money for our homeless prevention programs and are seeing more applicants seeking more assistance each year,” Frye said. “Without a doubt in the last 12 months, we have seen more new people facing homelessness and new people falling into homelessness.
“The problems are the same for urban and rural homeless people,” she said. “The difference is a lack of resources in rural areas. We’re hoping the day center will be the answer to failed street outreach. It’s hard doing street outreach. A tent may pop up but is gone by the time we can get there.”
Data about the depth of homelessness in rural areas is such a challenge that an accurate number doesn’t exist, according to frontline homeless outreach workers in rural Oklahoma.
The federally mandated Point-In-Time Count from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development is a single-day count of homeless people held during the last two weeks in January. The first PIT report was produced in 2007 and involves asking a series of questions about demographics, health status and housing history.
In metropolitan areas, an army of volunteers is trained to do the census with partner nonprofits such as shelters, food pantries, meal centers and other outreach locations. Urban city officials use the PIT in public policy decision-making.
That’s not the case in rural Oklahoma.
To get the count, HUD divides the country into Continuums of Care based on population. The nation’s largest cities may have several Continuums of Care, while some rural areas span multiple counties. Ada is part of the Southeast Continuum of Care with 21 counties, totalling about 17,730 square miles that includes the dense forest of the Ouachita Mountains.
By comparison, the Oklahoma City PIT covers just its city limits (621 square miles), and the Tulsa PIT includes the county of about 587 square miles.
The 2025 PIT for the Southeast Continuum of Care shows 372 unsheltered people (24 of those younger than 18) and 329 in emergency shelter (89 of those younger than 18).
“The Point-In-Time Count is completely inaccurate for rural areas,” Frye said. “It’s a lot harder to count 21 counties than a single city that can put out coffee and doughnuts to get a count. You could take the rural numbers, multiply by 10 and still not even be close to right. There are some counties that probably don’t get counted at all.
“With this being in January, during winter, homeless people disappear around here,” she said. “They tend to have a friend or family that lets them stay during the cold months. By the HUD definition, they aren’t homeless, but we know that they are.”
The HUD definition of unsheltered homelessness is sleeping overnight in a place not intended for human habitation, such as cars, tents, parks and streets. Sheltered homelessness is defined as adequate nighttime residence but supervised as public or private shelters, which could be emergency shelters or transitional living programs.
Those definitions mean people who are couch surfing with friends and family or staying temporarily in motels are not considered homeless. Some towns have anti-homeless ordinances that make it illegal to sleep in public spaces. If those areas have no shelters, then people who are homeless tend to hide, making it difficult for a PIT census.
The PIT results are reported to HUD, which considers that as part of a formula determining overall grant funding. This algorithm makes it difficult to know if, or how many, dollars are lost based on an undercount. Most rural housing and homeless advocates say other factors such as poverty rates hold greater weight, but it’s unclear, says Amanda Ewing, executive director of the Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies.
“The Point-In-Time count is really more geared for urban and suburban areas and not well suited for Oklahoma,” Ewing said.
Smaller populations mean fewer ranks of volunteers. Frye said she pulled in game wardens to let her know on the PIT day if they see any homeless people. Mostly, the census is based on volunteers and staff of agencies responsible for the count.
The Northeast Oklahoma Continuum of Care has 11 counties covering about 6,840 square miles, including the Ozark mountains. Some cities, such as Vinita and Tahlequah, have concerted efforts, while counties such as Delaware are difficult to cover, said Lindi Conover, planner with the Northeast Oklahoma Community Action Agency, who is in charge of the count. On a strong year, she will have 70 volunteers, but it usually hovers closer to 45.
The PIT from this year showed 128 unsheltered people and 65 sheltered individuals.
“Most people hear that and say, ‘That’s impossible, that’s wrong, I can find more people than that right now,’” Conover said. “Our area is vast. We don’t have the resources, the organization or the volunteers to do this sort of thing. Homelessness is not visible in rural areas. We don’t have encampments like in cities or shelters where people gather. If people are in tents, it’s way off the beaten path where they can’t be found.”
Conover said the undercount hurts on grants specifically relying on PIT to gauge need, but she is more concerned about a recent HUD announcement that would limit spending on permanent supportive housing programs to only 30% of its allocations to agencies. There has previously not been any restriction.
Permanent supportive housing programs offer indefinite rental assistance and supportive services for people with disabilities who are also homeless.
“There are partner groups that use 100% of the allocation for permanent supportive housing because we know that’s what helps people here the most,” Conover said.
Another consequence of inaccurate PIT leads to a lack of community awareness.
In Atoka, City Councilor Erica Pogue, who is also the director of the Inca Community Action Agency, says it’s difficult to advocate for public resources for homelessness without facts to show the problem.
“Too many people don’t think there are homeless people here,” Pogue said. “I’ve practically taken them to where homeless people live. We’ve turned a blind eye to our homeless in rural places. I’m not sure how many there are, but it’s too many. We do not have shelters to get a count. It’s hard to convince people about homeless issues when they can’t see it.”
Atoka is also in the Southeast Continuum of Care, and Pogue’s agency leads the PIT effort for Atoka County and three other counties.
“We will have people looking for homeless people, but you’re not going to find them in the daytime,” Pogue said. “We use staff to drive around and mark down what they see, but that’s not an efficient way to do this. You really need to go to where they are, but we’re not going to ask staff to go into some areas because it’s dangerous.”
In 2017, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty released a report detailing flaws in the PIT method that mirror challenges faced by rural frontline workers. It recommended expanding the definition of homelessness and moving to a design that allows for follow-up surveys, estimations and other ways to input information.
“The results of the PIT counts – and even the trend data – are not necessarily accurate indicators of the success or failure of programs or policies that address homelessness,” the report states.
Pogue has been pushing for public investments into transitional housing programs because her agency’s hotel rental assistance program isn’t able to keep up with demand. It costs $1,000 to $1,500 to rent a three-bedroom home in Atoka, which isn’t affordable on a $10- to $15-an-hour wage, she said. That’s pushing more people into weekly rate hotels.
“We spend money putting people in hotels, and if we had a shelter or transitional housing, it would be more effective and help a greater quantity of people,” Pogue said. “What we are currently doing works for our program, but transitional housing would provide long-term assistance and be better for the people to establish their lives sufficiently.
“Whether we get a better Point-in-Time count or not isn’t the pressing problem,” she said. “The bigger issue we have is not having housing to get people into. With the housing, there are too many restrictions, such as felony convictions, and not enough to go around for all who need it.”
