Homeless Alliance

History and Activities

The Homeless Alliance is a nonprofit organization that provides housing, employment opportunities, shelter, and other services to homeless individuals and families. The organization and attempts to fill gaps in services to the homeless as well as collaborate among government agencies, religious organizations, and other nonprofits to address homelessness. ^{1  2}

The Homeless Alliance was founded in 2004 by community volunteers who desired to bring what they viewed as best practices to address homelessness from other communities and implement them in Oklahoma City. Its first initiative was to convene the directors from Oklahoma City’s overnight shelters to identify gaps in homeless services and then to develop software that would track homeless data through a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). ^{1  5}

In 2006, the Homeless Alliance opened the WestTown Resource Campus, a general-use day shelter to help homeless individuals coordinate and travel between service providers. ³

In 2007, the Homeless Alliance became a partner of United Way of Central Oklahoma. ³

In 2011, the Homeless Alliance opened a day shelter to provide meals, showers, and places to rest for homeless people. ³

In 2012, the Homeless Alliance adopted a housing-first model that focused on providing homeless people housing before addressing other issues like physical and mental illnesses, addiction, and unemployment. ³

In 2016, the Homeless Alliance was awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing for people with HIV. ³

In 2020, the Homeless Alliance opened Curbside Flowers, a florist that provides employment and training to homeless and formerly homeless individuals. ³

In 2022, the Homeless Alliance partnered with the Oklahoma City Municipal Court and a private firm to establish the Community Court program that helps homeless people clear citations and fines. ³

In 2023, the Homeless Alliance opened a winter shelter including a kennel for pets. ³

Other programs operated by the Homeless Alliance include the Curbside Chronicle, a street paper to provide writing and employment opportunities for the homeless; Curbside Apparel, a screen-printing company that provides employment to the homeless; Sasquatch Shaved Ice, a nonprofit snow cone stand providing jobs to low-income and foster youth as well as young people who have committed crimes;  Fresh StART, an art program for the homeless; and a street outreach program to connect homeless individuals with services. ⁶

People

The chief executive officer of the Homeless Alliance as of 2025 was Meghan Mueller. Mueller became the president and CEO of the Homeless Alliance in 2024. Previously, she was the associate executive director, director of community capacity building, director of the Journey Home OKC Program, a program manager, and an intern for the Homeless Alliance.  ^{5  7}

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2022 the Homeless Alliance reported $15,708,964 in revenues, $12,502,921 in expenses, and $12,067,213 in assets. Of its expenses, it spent $5,218,728 on financial assistance and case management to provide housing, $2,182,626 on operating a day shelter, $1,944,252 on employment training for homeless people, and $1,227,949 to collaborate with government, religious, and other nonprofit organizations to address homelessness. The Homeless Alliance received 43 percent of its revenue ($6,643,914) from government grants and $7,542,638 from other gifts, grants, and contributions.  ²

The Homeless Alliance has received grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It also receives financial support from Bank of America, Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, Cresap Family Foundation, Enterprise Mobility, Express Employment Professionals, E.L and Thelma Gaylord Foundation, Inasmuch Foundation, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, OGE, Renewal by Andersen, Richison Family Foundation, Simple Modern, Osma Foundation, Honest Waves, Aetna, the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, and the Arnall Family Foundation. ^{3  4}