OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The unhoused population in Oklahoma has grown by nearly 30 percent over the past year. Experts blame inflation, the lack of affordable housing, and the end of pandemic relief funds. Living in a tent in south Oklahoma City, one woman reached out to News 4 — not for a handout, but to pay it forward to a woman she calls her “angel.”
“Nobody can see us at all,” Laci Sellers said, as she led our News 4 crew to her secluded campsite. Seclusion means safety for Laci, her boyfriend, and their dog, Karmilla.
Outside their tent, the American flag stands proudly — it’s one of their few possessions.
“Residentially-challenged is what I call it, not homeless, because homeless is a mindset,” Laci said.
Laci’s journey on the streets began early in life, when she aged out of foster care at 19.
“Do I want to be out here? No. But this is what I can do right now. People say, ‘Go to a shelter, go to a shelter,’ but that’s not logical for me, not even just for my anxiety stuff,” she said.