The Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits (OKCNP) will host the 2021 Oklahoma Nonprofit Excellence (ONE) Awards on April 24, 2021, in Tulsa, with limited attendance. The event will be livestreamed on OKCNP’s website as well. Leading up to the event, OKCNP is celebrating the 21 Oklahoma nonprofit finalists in seven categories. Ada Homeless Services (AHS) is a finalist in the Self-Sufficiency category.

“As a relatively small rural nonprofit, it is a great honor to be recognized as a 2021 ONE Awards finalist, alongside so many wonderful Oklahoma organizations,” said Sarah Frye, executive director, AHS. “Thank you for seeing value in the work AHS is doing, and stay tuned, we have much more work yet to do.”

Founded in 2003, AHS’s mission is “to ensure everyone can come home.” The organization serves a thousand people who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing homelessness in Pontotoc County.

AHS takes a Housing First Approach, providing permanent house and stabilization services, as well eviction prevention. The nonprofit housed 59 households and worked to prevent 188 evictions in 2020.

“AHS is so much more than their name implies,” said one former client. “When I walked through their doors, I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise they not only agreed to help me get out of a dangerous situation, they also gave me hope. And when you are where I was, hope is huge!”

AHS’s Rapid Rehousing program is intensive and fast-moving, typically taking three months to ensure basic necessities such as housing and food. Then case managers work in tandem with community partners to find clients employment, establish budgets, and address substance abuse issues, to name a few.

AHS is committed to working with individuals regardless of their prior criminal history, sexual orientation, experiences with substance abuse, mental health status, credit, etc. The organization believes that every person deserves a home.

“My family of three, soon to be four, were not technically homeless, but were living in an extremely unsafe, sub-par environment when we reached out to AHS,” said the Coffell Family via Google Review. “Their job didn’t stop with finding us a home. They made sure we would be happy and comfortable in our home.”

To learn more about Ada Homeless Services, visit their website: https://www.adahomelessservices.org/.

The ONE Awards is dedicated to honoring the outstanding work of Oklahoma nonprofits statewide. The ONE Awards also serves as the primary fundraising event for OKCNP. Proceeds from the ONE Awards enable OKCNP to serve communities throughout Oklahoma.

To learn more about the OKCNP ONE Awards or to watch the event, visit: https://www.okcnp.org/page/one-awards.