Tulsa announced a new fund Wednesday to help spur the construction of affordable housing. The Tulsa Housing Impact Fund, alongside the national nonprofit Housing Partnership Network, has raised $74 million so far.
Mayor Monroe Nichols said the goal is $120 million. For now, they’re ready to start building.
“We know it’s one thing to raise the money. We know it’s one thing to spend the money. It’s another thing to make sure we can deliver on our guarantee to make sure everybody has a safe and affordable place to call home,” Nichols said at the Greenwood Cultural Center.
Development for the impact fund began under Mayor G.T. Bynum’s administration. Key funders include the Zarrow Family, Ruth Nelson Family and George Kaiser Family foundations.
Money will be given to developers who need assistance building new, affordable properties, but it’s also meant to help repair existing infrastructure.
Housing Partnership Network will work to bring outside investments to Tulsa’s fund.
“We are here to do two things: to bring capital and leverage that local capital with national capital to invest in affordable housing in the City of Tulsa,” said Robin Hughes, president & CEO of Housing Partnership Network.
A solution to the homelessness crisis
Homelessness in Tulsa has increased in nine of the past 10 years, mostly due to a lack of housing.
Nichols has pledged to develop 6,000 affordable units by 2028, a project that Housing Partnership Network said they will help steward.
“That thread through public philanthropy and private capital is what will make this initiative a success, because we’re able to blend that capital together and offer the most flexible type of lending and investment,” Hughes said.
Gina Stilp, executive director for the Ruth Nelson Family Foundation, said they are “still figuring out” what exactly to fund, and how they plan to operate in Tulsa.
Burlinda Radney, president of the Historic Greenwood Main Street Program focused on economic revitalization in the area, said city officials must ensure they don’t make the same mistakes that led to the present-day housing crisis, though she didn’t offer specifics.
“If we had done it right, then we wouldn’t have people living under bridges. We wouldn’t have people who are barely able to keep their utilities on and so forth,” Radney said. “Let’s together talk more about not just having safe and secure housing, but let’s talk about having housing that actually supports the way that our people actually live.”
Tulsa is the third city the nonprofit network will partner with, after previously working in New Orleans and Detroit.
Ismael Lele is a Report for America corps member and writes about business in Tulsa for The Oklahoma Eagle. Your donation to match our Report for America grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting this link.
