City Care’s Odyssey Project returns for its 8th year next weekend, bringing a night of storytelling, community, and action to support people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City. The event, set for Saturday at the Yale Theater in Capitol Hill, raises funds for City Care’s programs, which include permanent supportive housing, low-barrier night shelters in Oklahoma City and Norman, and a mobile outreach shuttle connecting people to essential resources.
In this Q&A, City Care’s Capacity Building Manager Maggie Hudson and City Care Collective member Amanda Neamon share what makes the Odyssey Project unique, how the event challenges perceptions of poverty, and how the community can get involved.
What is City Care?
Hudson: “CityCare is a nonprofit that has been in Oklahoma City since 1986. And we have a permanent supportive housing community with 112 units of permanent supportive housing. We have a low-barrier night shelter in Oklahoma City and in Norman. And then we also have a shuttle as well.”
What makes the Odyssey Project unique?
Neamon: “Next Saturday, like you said, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the beautiful Yale Theater in Capitol Hill, is the Odyssey Project. This is an event that was created to support the mission of CityCare, and it is so unique. We’re going to have great food, great drinks, all the things, but most importantly, we’re going to have a night of powerful storytelling that is going to challenge our perceptions of what poverty is, what it really looks like, and how we can get involved.”
Are tickets still available?
Hudson: “Yes, of course. Tickets are still available. So you can check our website. We’d love for people to come. We also going to share a little bit about the event. Don’t want to share too much, but we will have an interactive piece, which is why we brought this fun backpack. So a lot of times our guests will come to us and the only thing that they have is a backpack. And so we are going to challenge people who come to say, if you had to leave your house rather quickly, what are the five items you’d put in your backpack?”
What five items should people be grabbing?
Hudson: “So oftentimes people will grab things like their ID, their birth certificate, their Social Security card, but then you’re also forced to choose between family photo albums, medication, maybe things for your animal or your pet. So it’s really one of those things where we want to challenge people to think about if they’re put in this situation where they could possibly be experiencing homelessness, what would they do?”
What other services does City Care provide?
Hudson: “So we have 112 units, like I said, of permanent housing for people who’ve experienced chronic homelessness. And this is permanent. They can stay with us as long as they want. We also have our low-barrier shelter in Oklahoma City and in Norman. We have 140 beds in Oklahoma City and then 55 in Norman. And then our other program we have is called MOE. So it stands for Mobile Outreach and Engagement. And this is our shuttle that will take anyone to different resources around the city.”…