The Harbor project planning was launched in January 2025 when the City of Tulsa approached The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation about helping facilitate additional shelter capacity needed in Tulsa. Tulsa’s shelter beds per capita is comparatively low, and there is no true 24/7, low-barrier shelter for adults.

The site was identified by the City of Tulsa, who has pledged an additional $1.5M to the project in the first 18 months. Private donors executed early feasibility testing, design, and identification of an experienced low-barrier shelter operator. Preliminary feasibility and costs were determined by donors in Spring 2025. A project manager, architect, and contractor were secured in Fall 2025 by The Harbor LLC. The County-City property transaction was completed in December 2025, and ownership of the site was transferred to The Harbor LLC in March 2026.

Phase 1 construction aims for completion by December 2026. The 43,000 SF facility will begin with 23,000 SF of shelter space, a commercial kitchen and fully equipped kennel for 28 dogs.

The Harbor low-barrier shelter is grounded in the philosophy that everyone, regardless of circumstances or challenges, deserves a safe place to stay. The Harbor will ensure that access to available emergency shelter is immediate, without requiring people to meet certain conditions like sobriety, pet restrictions, employment, or enrollment in prescribed programs. By lowering the barriers to entry, this effort will ensure that the most vulnerable — those who might not fit the traditional criteria for assistance — are not left outside or on the street.

The Harbor will also be a platform for robust housing navigation and social services referrals. Strategic aims during Phase I include increasing the number of individuals accessing emergency shelter in Tulsa by 180 day/night and 2,300+ annually. The shelter will dramatically reduce the time individuals spend on the streets or in encampments, and increase the number of individuals moving into permanent housing in Tulsa. During Phase I, The Harbor property will be owned by The Harbor LLC and guided by its Advisory Steering Committee, and will rely on a management contract with City Care, headquartered in Oklahoma City, for oversight of every aspect of the shelter operations during the first two years.

Once operations are launched and stabilized within the community, the facility ownership will transfer to the demonstrated effective operator with a local nonprofit board overseeing the organization.

The Harbor LLC is a nonprofit vehicle for the development and construction of a new $16M, 24/7, low-barrier homeless shelter in Tulsa.

The Harbor LLC is owned and managed by the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation. The shelter construction project itself is a three-way partnership among primary funders, the Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation and the Ruth Nelson Family Foundation, and homeless services provider City Care. City Care, currently serving Oklahoma City and Norman, is the identified operator for shelter programs at The Harbor.

A project advisory committee consists of representatives from Housing Solutions, lead donors, Tulsa Day Center, the Mayor’s Office, and City Care.

The property, the former Tulsa County Juvenile Detention Center, was acquired via partnership between Tulsa County and the City of Tulsa. With the approval of City Council, the City of Tulsa transferred ownership of the property to The Harbor LLC in March 2026.

Since 2020, Housing Solutions has provided coordination and support for the community’s homeless services efforts. As the Lead Agency, Housing Solutions convenes A Way Home for Tulsa, the continuum of care collaborative made up of more than 60 cross-sector organizations working to address homelessness in the Tulsa area.

Over the past six years, this collaborative effort has significantly increased federal investment in Tulsa, growing annual HUD funding from $3M to $8.6 million. During that same period, the system expanded its capacity to connect people to housing. In 2025 alone, housing placements increased by 24%, resulting in 1,091 individuals moving into housing.

In 2025, the City of Tulsa invested over $1M in emergency weather shelter response and established Safe Move Tulsa. Supported by $6M in City funding and nearly $4M from corporate leaders, the Safe Move Tulsa initiative focuses on unsheltered homelessness by coordinating outreach services, housing placements and encampment closures into a unified strategy.

Yes, to view open and upcoming roles at The Harbor, visit our Careers page.