Council committee reviews $6 million 'Safe Move Tulsa' rehousing plan; vote set for the 20th

The Tulsa City Council Public Works Committee on Wednesday heard a presentation on Safe Move Tulsa, a proposed $6,000,000 rehousing initiative that would reallocate existing Walmart opioid-settlement dollars, pandemic recovery funds and ARPA dollars to connect people experiencing homelessness to supportive, individualized housing and services.

Emily Hall, the mayor’s senior adviser on homelessness, told the committee the package would rehouse roughly 300 people and support individualized needs plans. “This is a $6,000,000 investment,” Hall said, summarizing the funding mix and goals.

Hall and budget staff introduced two companion budget amendments: one to transfer $4,026,700 within the city’s Walmart opioid settlement sub-plan to broaden the scope of an existing project, and a second to move about $340,000 of balances within the Pandemic Relief Recovery Fund toward the same rehousing effort. The measures were introduced for committee discussion; the committee did not take a final vote. Committee members were told second reading and a public hearing are scheduled for the 20th.

Why it matters: city staff and service providers framed Safe Move Tulsa as a short‑term, targeted effort to move people into permanent, supportive housing and then use the freed shelter capacity to decommission encampments. Committee members repeatedly cited shelter congestion and point‑in‑time data presented by staff: 1,449 people counted as experiencing homelessness in January (953 in shelters and 469 unsheltered). Presenters said immediate rehousing would both reduce unsheltered counts and create space to assist people who are chronically unhoused.

Program design and services

Hall described Safe Move Tulsa as a scattered‑site rehousing strategy run with Away Home for Tulsa…