The Changing Face of Homelessness

Today's global financial crisis has spawned massive dislocations of many new and surprising types. The current economic downturn, unlike others in the past, is hurting not just the already-poor but also people who were considered safe and well off. Once mighty banks have been brought low -- or destroyed. And millions of people who were living the American dream -- as homeowners -- are heading for the street.

The images of homelessness -- sunken-cheeked men railing against imaginary voices -- now include the specter of the family next door -- former homeowners and the recently unemployed. These once middle-class folks now have been tossed into desperation by the international credit crunch.

And much of it is happening in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol.

Raymond Winbush, an unemployed emergency-room technician who likes to read Shakespeare, looks at the other homeless men at the Central Union Mission in Northwest and wonders aloud how his life has come to this.

"I was raised with the idea that if you had a job, that if you did it well ... you could make it. You didn't need to worry," says Mr. Winbush, 61, who said he left a steady job at the Maimonides Medical Center in New York to help his sister in Virginia Beach.

Realizing he could not help save her home from foreclosure on the low wages paid in the Tidewater area, Mr. Winbush headed to the District to find work at one of the city's many hospitals.

He said Howard University Hospital made an offer but couldn't follow through with a job because of financial reasons. Attempts to find work at Georgetown University, Providence and Sibley Memorial hospitals resulted in similar outcomes.

"This is the first time in my life where I can't find a job," says Mr. Winbush, who keeps his interview clothes and other belongings in a rented storage locker. "I don't know what's going on. Every time I get close, something happens and I have to start all over again."

This came from the "Washington Post"
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Contact Information

Noel Tyler-Chairperson
Title: Division Administrator Department of Rehabilitation Services, Disability Determination Division
Organization: Social Security Administration

Jean Cooper - Vice Chair
Executive Director
Northeast Oklahoma Community Action Agency (NEOCAA)
1014 N. Main, Suite C
Jay, OK 74346
(918) 253-4683
(918) 253-6059
jcooper@neocaa.org

Linda Love - Secretary
Director of Planning and Development
KI BOIS Community Action Foundation
P.O.Box 727
Stigler, OK 74462
(918) 967-9992
9180 967-2071
linda.love@kibois.org

Linda Lepak - Parliamentarian
Managing Attorney Intake Hotline
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc.
423 S. Boulder Avenue, Suite 200
Tulsa, OK 74103
(918) 295-9438
(918) 584-1866
linda.lepak@laok.org

Tom Jones - Chair
Strategy 1: Increasing Collaborations

Jacki Millspaugh - Chair
Strategy 2: Increasing Access to Housing

Bob Mann - Chair
Strategy 3: Improving Access to Services

Kay Floyd & Linda Manaugh - Co-Chair
Strategy 4: Improving Access to Mainstrem Resources

Please add Strategy 5: Improving Access to Federal and State Benefits
Bruce Smith Chair

Members:

AC Garcia
Salvation Army D. H. Q.
5101 N Penn Oklahoma City
(405) 840-0735 / M)
(405) 306-5588

Senator Andrew Rice
Senator
2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., Rm. 521
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 521-5610
rice@oksenate.gov

Carol Marsh
Program Field Representative,Community Based Programs
Office of Juvenile Affairs P.O. Box 268812
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 530-2883
(405) 530-2892
Carol.Marsh@oja.ok.gov

Darlene McClure
Coordinator of Outreach/Liaison Grant and Per Diem Homeless Program Department of Veterans Affairs
Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs
921 Northeast 13th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73104
(405) 270-0501, Ext. 5759
(405) 290-1777
beverly.mcclure.med@va.gov

David Slimp
Assistant Program Chief Employment Services Division
Oklahoma Employment Security Commission
2401 North Lincoln Boulevard Room 404-4
Oklahoma City, OK 73152
(405) 557-5474
(405) 557-7501
david.slimp@oesc.state.ok.us

Erin Clapper
Program Specialist
Oklahoma State Department of Education
2500 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 311
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 522-3251
(405) 521-2998
erin_clapper@sde.state.ok.us

Floy Smith
Agency Liaison and Public Policy Specialist Governor Brad Henry’s Office
State Capitol Bldg. Room 212
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 522-8825
(405) 521-3353
Floy.Smith@gov.state.ok.us

Jacqueline Millspaugh
Director, Treatment and Recovery Community Based Services
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
P.O. Box 53277
Oklahoma City, OK 73152
(405) 522-3863
(405) 522-3650
jmillspaugh@odmhsas.org

Jean Cooper
Executive Director
Northeast Oklahoma Community Action Agency (NEOCAA)
1014 N. Main, Suite C
Jay, OK 74346
(918) 253-4683
(918) 253-6059
jcooper@neocaa.org

Jim Lyall
Consumer Service Council of Greater Tulsa
3315 South Lewis / 1870 South Boulder
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74105
(918) 295-1241
(918) 585-1263
jlyall@csctulsa.org

Joanne Terlizzi
Director of Policy Development Federal/State Health Policy Division
Oklahoma Health Care Authority
4545 North Lincoln Boulevard,
Suite 124
Oklahoma City, OK 73105
(405) 522-7272
(405) 530-3321
terlizzj@ohca.state.ok.us

Armisha Harrison
Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
1200 Northeast 13th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73117
AHarrison@odmhsas.org

Kay Floyd
Director, Head Start State Collaboration Office
Oklahoma Association of Community Action Agencies
2800 NW 36th Street, Suite 221
Oklahoma City, OK 73112
(405) 949-1495 
(405) 949-0955
kfloyd@okacaa.org

Kenny Wade Holloway
Oklahoma Department of Corrections
3700 North Classen Boulevard, Suite 110
Oklahoma City, OK 73118
(405) 523-3075
(405) 525- 4529
kenny.holloway@doc.state.ok.us

Lee Ann Smith
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency
P.O. Box 26720
Oklahoma City, OK 73126
(405) 417-8243
(405) 842-8758
Leeann.smith@ohfa.org

Linda Manaugh
Director, Grants & Federal Programs
Metro Technology Centers
1900 Springlake Drive
Oklahoma City, OK  73111
(405) 605-4415
(405) 424-4010
linda.manaugh@metrotech.org

Mary Stalnaker
Oklahoma Department of Human Services
P.O. Box 25352
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 521-3076
(405) 521-4158
mary.stalnaker@okdhs.org

Susan Geurin
Program Coordinator
Healing Hands Health Care Services
411 Northwest 11th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73103
(405) 272-0476
(405) 272-0730
sgeurin@hhhcs.org

Vaughn Clark
Director of Community Development, Office of Community Development
Oklahoma Department of Commerce
900 N Stiles Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73104
(405) 815-5370
(405) 815-5344
vaughn_clark@odoc.state.ok.us

Marisa New Wells
Director of Health Equity and Resource Opportunities
Department of Health
1000 NE 10th Street
Oklahoma City, OK 73117
(405) 271-9444 X56410
(405) 271-1225
MarisaN@health.ok.gov

Tom Jones
President/CEO
City Rescue Mission
800 W. California Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK 73106
(405) 232-2709
(405) 236-0341
tjones@cityrescue.org

Jane Ferrell
Urban Redevelopment Specialist
City of Oklahoma City
420 West Main, Suite 920
Oklahoma City, OK.  73102
(405) 297-2939
(405) 297-3796
jane.ferrell@okc.gov

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