FEDERAL GRANT MONIES AVAILABLE FOR HOUSING IN SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
Dale Denwalt
Daily Elk Citian
More than a dozen counties will soon begin a process to count the number of homeless veterans in southwestern Oklahoma.
The effort, spearheaded by the Southwest Continuum of Care group based in Lawton, will involve about 50 non-profit organizations including Elk City's Western Oklahoma Family Care Center.
WOFCC Director Tim Ball said the count will present some challenges.
"We're going to try to count the homeless. Of course that's tough, because you don't know where they are," he said.
The nature of WOFCC's services could help, though. Whenever the group helps someone, they collect information. And on September 11, when the count begins, they'll call homes containing at least one adult resident who doesn't rent or own that house.
The count is being organized to find out – as accurately as possible – the number of homeless veterans. That's because there is grant money available to the non-profit organizations to help find them a stable place to live. If the non-profits in southwestern Oklahoma can find out how many housing vouchers they need, they can make sure there is a roof over veterans' heads.
The count will officially begin a 12:01 a.m. on September 11. Elk City's WOFCC will reach out to known homeless people and is encouraging the homeless, their friends or family to contact them to get the most accurate figures for federal aid grants.
WOFCC: (580) 225-5500
Homeless Hotline: (580) 595-0636
For the full story, pick up the Tuesday, September 4, edition of the Daily Elk Citian.