After spending the morning cleaning a local park, the group of eight sat around the concrete picnic table for a hot meal and cold drinks — something they don't always come by, as each person had been panhandling to deal with homelessness or other economic issues.

Under welcome shade on the 100-plus degree day, the participants of the Oklahoma City funded "A Better Way" program ate and listened as the program's behavioral health case manager Trudi Islas explained how she could help them overcome barriers to housing and employment. The program, which in its first 10 months has provided a day's work to more than 700 people and secured employment for 25, was given the go-ahead to continue for another year by the Oklahoma City Council this week.

The program, which has partnered with cities across the country, including Tulsa, since 2017, is a significant change in how Oklahoma City approaches panhandling. A 2015 ordinance prohibiting panhandling and other activities on medians within 200 feet of an intersection was ruled unconstitutional in 2020, and Oklahoma City was ordered in 2021 to pay nearly $1 million in legal fees and expenses.

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Rodney Orr, 57, said the program, for which participants receive $65 per work day, has given him a renewed sense of hope for the future. The possibility of getting housed and having a job has given Orr something to look forward to.

"We go through a lot of thoughts with suicide and stuff like that," Orr said. "Every day we're struggling, fighting ... I'm a recovering addict, it's hard. But when you got somebody like that, just out of nowhere, (saying) 'Come on!' That makes a big difference for a lot of us."

Orr, who moved to Oklahoma City from St. Louis around 15 years ago for a dirt auger job, said he has been homeless off and on for about 10 years.

The green and white van, featuring the promising words "Real Change for Panhandling," brings up to eight passengers and a trailer full of trash bags, rakes and other supplies to an Oklahoma City park three days a week. Each client can ride the van five times a year and is encouraged to work with Islas and Genaro Pratcher, employment specialist, to secure a job.

Islas, Pratcher and van driver Kelvin Dickerson are hired by the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma, which runs the program.

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On Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, Dickerson picks passengers up in the morning and heads to a park. Some of the more common pickup locations include City Care, the Mental Health Association office, Lottie House and NW 39 and Pennsylvania.

Lindsay Cates, a senior planner of homelessness services for the city, said it's not an easy process getting clients to trust employees enough to seek their assistance. Of the more than 700 van riders, only 189 have completed an intake for services, 60 have met with Pratcher seeking employment and 12 have been connected with housing.

"It's not usually just one person rides the van one time and things fall into place," Cates said. "It's a lot of work and coordination. But I think it's worth it."

When Islas meets with a client, the first thing she does is find out what circumstances might keep them from having a job. Sometimes it's missing forms of identification, a lack of appropriate clothing, being unhoused or a myriad of other things.

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"I've been able to show them that I will follow through and help with the things I told them I would help with," Islas said. "And they come in already hearing that from their friends, 'She did this for me, she did that for me.'"

One client, Lori, who shared her story with the Mental Health Association but kept her last name out for privacy purposes, was "in a dark pit" when she met Islas. Living on the streets, drunk, and off her medication, Lori was experiencing suicidal thoughts and said she would be dead if it hadn't have been for meeting Islas, who helped her get to a crisis center.

Eventually, she and her wife, Kara, started riding the A Better Way van.

"It gave us a reason to get up each morning — to not go panhandle for a bottle of vodka, but to go to work,” Lori said. “A Better Way really gave us a sense of hope that there was something better out there for us.”

Lori is now employed, recently opened her own checking account, has a library card, a voter registration card and a home for all of those things. Lori and Kara have been living in a sober living house since February, and will celebrate six months of sobriety on Aug. 10.

Islas said "over and over and over again" she has seen clients go from their lowest point to getting their life back.

"I've seen people be housed and employed and get their humanity back, their hope," Islas said. "I've seen the shine return to their eyes."

Pratcher, who came on as the employment specialist in January, said he promised himself years ago he would never go back to working in mental health after some previous disappointments working in the field.

That changed when he was approached by Islas for the job, and couldn't find a real reason not to take it. The impact on his clients has made it more than worth it.

Pratcher, who is always looking for new employer relationships, recalled one client who got so excited over just having a job interview.

"This guy was ecstatic, ran to the door, he's fist pumping and everything," Pratcher said. "That right there is like a joy that you can't describe, because we're literally changing people's lives."

While A Better Way was approved for another yearlong contract with the city, at an annual cost of $270,000, program and city employees would like to see it grow. More funding would mean more vans and more participants.

As it stands, the one van leaves behind participant hopefuls every day. Cates said A Better Way counted 369 people from March to June of this year who wanted to get on the van when it was full. Cates said that probably includes duplicated individuals.

Orr said he has seen more than 30 waiting on the van in the morning. The crowds are largely due to word of mouth, and Dickerson's work to let as many people across the city know about the program.

"I don't know how much of an effect we're having on all of Oklahoma City with just one van," Dickerson said.

Ward 5 City Councilman David Greenwell said at Tuesday's city council meeting he would like to see more attention on the panhandling issue and asked why the program wasn't being expanded.

Cates said more funding partners are needed.

City Manager Craig Freeman said the program is still in a pilot phase and is just "one solution" the city is looking at to address homelessness.

"We're looking at many different angles of this and not trying to put all our marbles in one basket," Freeman said. "Different people have different needs, and we're really trying to spread our resources, do some of these as pilot programs, check their validity … and then decide if we move forward."