The rising rates of homelessness in the U.S. are driven by a variety of causes and factors. Homelessness intersects with nearly every other social cause in some way, as minority and underserved groups are the most likely to be vulnerable to these influencing factors.

By looking for these intersections, we can drive efficiency in government spending and place individuals in the supportive and wrap-around services that will lead to their long-term success. 

One such intersection is the intersection between disability and homelessness. In each of the last 5 years (from 2019 to 2024), 40-70 percent of all respondents to the Housing Solutions Tulsa Point-In-Time Count reported a disabling condition as a factor in their homelessness. This overrepresentation of disability is massive, considering that there was a 16 percent prevalence rate of disability identified in Oklahoma in 2019 (Oklahoma.gov, 2019).

Anecdotally, staff at the Gatesway Foundation in Broken Arrow have shared how common it is for their clients (individuals with intellectual disabilities, whom they call Friends) to report that they believe they would be homeless without Gatesway’s intervention. It is estimated that at least 75 percent of all Gatesway Friends would be at-risk for homelessness without Gatesway’s services.

Like most other groups that would be overrepresented in these studies, individuals with disabilities are especially sensitive to the affordable housing crisis, as most rely on Social Security Income to live. In February 2024, it was found that Supplemental Security Income beneficiaries receive too little each month to reasonably afford apartment rent in any housing market across the nation. Even an efficiency apartment in the cheapest rental market in the nation is still 64% of an individual’s SSI payment (Technical Assistance Collaboration). 

Services, such as the Medicaid Home-and-Community-Based-Services waiver, already exist to ensure this group remains safely housed. Investment in these kind of services is one essential piece of the puzzle to responding to Tulsa and the rest of the nation’s homelessness crisis. Organizations serving the disability population should engage with their homelessness response counterparts, and vice-versa, to identify ways to work together in designing solutions and in advocacy. Disability organizations can take a first step toward this by joining local homelessness coalitions, such as Tulsa’s A Way Home 4 Tulsa or Oklahoma City’s Homeless Alliance.

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