The City of Norman announced that the emergency shelter located on East Comanche Street will close on June 27 after the landlord decided not to renew the lease, according to a press release.
The emergency warming shelter at 325 Comanche St. has been in operation since winter 2020 and had 35 beds, all of which were occupied on May 25 according to the city’s emergency shelter guest attendance log.
According to the press release the city received notification to vacate the property this week, and the last overnight operation will be on June 26-27. The emergency shelter was funded by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce’s COVID-19 relief efforts, and the contract will expire on Aug. 31.
The city faced an August deadline to relocate the shelter but efforts have not been successful. Originally, City Manager Darrel Pyle spoke with Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services about leasing a vacant building on the property of the Griffin Memorial Hospital.
These plans, however, received pushback due to the close proximity of Le Monde International School, a French and Spanish immersion school with a public charter. Ward 5 Councilmember Rarchar Tortorello argued that a shelter this close to the school could cause it to lose its charter, and he said since the shelter would close at 7 a.m., students could potentially be put at risk with unhoused people near their school.
ODMHSAS decided they would move forward with plans to construct a mental hospital instead of leasing the vacant building to the city for the shelter.
Tiffany Vrska, City of Norman chief communications officer, said that although there are no definitive plans to relocate the shelter at this time, the city applied for state funding from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Norman requested $5 million to be used for the construction and operation of an emergency shelter.
In February, former Ward 4 Norman City Council candidate Teresa Borum filed two petitions to change how funding and location decisions are made for city-run shelters. One petition aims to ban city shelters from being within a half-mile of schools, daycares and parks. The other calls for all proposed tax dollar expenditures on homeless shelters be put to a public vote.
Vrska previously said these petitions could affect Norman’s ability to use CARES Act funds, ARPA funds, general fund tax dollars or community development block grant funds on shelters, while also limiting the options for placing a resource for unhoused people.
Nearly one-third of Cleveland County’s population reported experiencing a cost burden for housing, which makes them more vulnerable to homelessness according to a December 2021 gap analysis report on the state and demographics of homelessness in Cleveland County.
The report also said Black, Native American and Alaska Natives are two times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population.
The Salvation Army Emergency Shelter remains in operation and is located at 318 E. Hayes St. Clients of the city’s emergency shelter are encouraged to work with case managers and partner agencies to discuss options after the Comanche shelter closes.
