Before City Care formally organized in 1996, a group of friends gathered weekly at a downtown church to serve pancake breakfasts to people experiencing homelessness. The pancakes were an invitation to connection, a weekly reminder that their neighbors were not forgotten.
When the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building destroyed some of the transitional housing downtown, the volunteers watched friends lose their homes. “Because of that proximity and friendship, they had a very visceral response to that housing being destroyed,” said Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of City Care. “And so they formalized around the idea of replacing it for their friends who were living outside.”
Since then, City Care has responded to the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness while continually asking two bigger questions: Why are people falling into homelessness in the first place, and what gaps in the system allow them to remain there?
Today, housing navigation is central to City Care’s approach. “That starts with trust and rapport, and then it is this very methodical and linear process,” explained Freeman. Once someone enters the housing-navigation process, City Care helps them secure stable housing in an average of 45 days.
Housing navigators help guests identify and overcome the barriers standing between them and stable housing. Someone fleeing domestic violence may need to replace their identification before they can sign a lease, or an existing balance may make it hard to start new utilities. Navigators work through these barriers until the person can move into stable housing.
Navigators also provide employment assistance, which may include helping someone find work, build skills or increase their earning potential. Finally, the organization continues to provide support after someone is housed, especially when another crisis threatens their stability.
Transitional housing has also been part of the mission since 2001, when City Care opened its first 60 transitional housing units at the Pershing Center.
The need continues to grow and change. In 2025, more than 5,000 people experienced homelessness in Oklahoma City, more than 4,000 of them for the first time. The number of seniors experiencing homelessness increased 35% from 2024 to 2025, while the number of families with children rose 71% from 2022 to 2025.
“It’s not that families and seniors just have decided they want to be homeless,” Freeman said. “This is an affordability issue, which is a systems problem.”
City Care’s experience operating the Homeless Alliance’s day shelter revealed another gap in OKC’s safety net: people who couldn’t access existing overnight shelters. “We opened our first night shelter in 2021, and we were full on night three, and we’ve been full ever since.”
The shelter serves 140 people per night, accommodates pets and keeps families together. Its defining feature is a low-barrier approach. “We have designed our built environment and our service delivery with the lived experience in mind—so that any reason that we can eliminate for you to stay outside, we are eliminating that,” said Freeman. Guests can bring their belongings, and sobriety is not a prerequisite for entry. Removing those obstacles means fewer reasons for someone to remain outside.
Another troubling gap became apparent as City Care encountered people discharged from hospitals directly into homelessness. Freeman recalls finding a man living in an encampment in the August heat, still wearing his hospital identification bracelet and suffering from a serious open wound. His circumstances illustrate a painful reality: Patients may be medically stable enough for discharge but have nowhere safe to recover.
City Care’s response is a planned 40-bed medical respite facility, funded through a $10.1 million capital campaign completed in October. With construction slated to begin in the coming months, the purpose-built space will offer a safe place to recuperate after hospitalization while housing navigators work to prevent a return to homelessness.
“The idea is that there will now be a warm handoff, and they won’t be discharged to the street. They’ll be discharged to our care so that we can continue their recuperation and also work on that housing plan,” Freeman said.
Supported by a knowledgeable staff, an engaged board and a generous donor base, City Care has the flexibility to identify gaps in the homeless response system and pursue new solutions.
Freeman hopes City Care’s work ultimately inspires a broader understanding of community responsibility.
“Homelessness is not an isolated phenomenon. It’s a predictable result of stagnant wages and lack of affordable housing,” she said. “And that is City Care’s North Star. We’re providing that safety net that people need right now because we care about our neighbors, but we have to lift our gaze.
“We have a responsibility to each other; we belong to each other.”
For more information about City Care, visit citycare.org.
This article appears in Fall Flavors.