Tucson nonprofit to expand housing help for veterans

The local nonprofit, which was founded in 1996 and promotes a “housing first” model to eradicate homelessness, recently broke ground on a $3.4 million renovation of its midtown Veteran’s Center at 3701 E. Third St.

The expansion will enable OPCS to serve an additional 100 individuals, raising its capacity to 400 unhoused veterans annually.

“We believe that ending veteran homelessness in our community is possible,” said Tom Litwicki, Chief Executive Officer of OPCS. “Based on the (Pima County) Medical Examiner’s Office, about 50 veterans die on the streets every year, and having the capacity to serve more people will change that.

“With the expansion of our Veterans Center and by working directly with the Veterans Administration, we are in a really good position to reduce the number of homeless veterans.”

OPCS currently provides shelter, transitional housing and support services to unhoused veterans across five facilities.

The planned expansion will add 18 studio apartments, a central kitchen, dining room, dog park and laundry area to the midtown facility. Five existing casitas will receive upgrades to make them ADA-compliant; and clients will have on-site access to case management, outpatient behavioral health services, employment coaching and navigation to permanent housing. Residents of a nearby OPCS 20-unit facility will also have access to these services.

Litwicki said that the licensed behavioral health services are a key component of OPCS resources and that it is the only local nonprofit shelter that directly provides these services to clients.

“We do outpatient behavioral health services on site,” said Litwicki. “It is important to bring these services to where people are. Lots of folks have mobility issues and some have issues with serious mental illness or addictions and the more we can integrate behavioral health services with our clients’ housing, the more we can connect them to the people and resources that can help them become stable and self-sufficient.”

Ultimately, he said the OPCS philosophy is unique because it seeks to remove all possible barriers to housing.

“We are not going to refuse shelter or transitional housing to people because they are currently addicted to drugs or alcohol or they have dogs or their mental health is not stable. If they are not a danger to themselves or others, we accept them,” Litwicki said.

Once bridge housing or temporary apartments are in place, other essential assistance and wrap-around services can be implemented. Public education is a key aspect to the success of OPCS, according to Litwicki.

“A big message we are trying to get out to the public is that ‘Housing First’ is not just housing. We use housing and shelter as a way to get people stable, but it is not the end of the story. People have other needs—most people need medical support and behavioral health support — and we provide for those,” he said.

OPCS also seeks to raise its public profile and promote awareness about its long-standing service to the community through numerous facilities, including the Center for Housing First, a 20,000-square-foot facility at 2323 S. Park Ave. Opened in 2023 as an “epicenter for support services” to undercut the root causes of homelessness, the Center features collaborative efforts with Pima County One-Stop, El Rio Health and the Tucson Police Department.

Litwicki said the organization seeks to continue to build collaborations with other nonprofits and public entities and to expand on innovative initiatives such as the Tucson Homeless Work Program. Tailored to those in shelters or on the streets who have barriers to employment (instability and lack of identification), the program seeks to provide a pathway out of homelessness. Participants can work up to five hours daily for $15 per hour, performing light work and clean-up around the city. They are paid in cash and receive employment counseling and other services.

“We push out about $10,000 a week to folks who are homeless ... last year we paid out $500,000 to people who are on the streets and can use that money for clothing, deposits on apartments, food or other things they need. Most studies have demonstrated that people spend that money wisely,” Litwicki said.

Overall, Litwicki said that the OPCS has a no-judgment philosophy that resonates with many the organization seeks to serve. He hopes that the common-sense approach will also appeal to the community.

“People think of homeless solutions and OPCS is the fifth organization people think about,” he said. “We need to move that up. We have 11 locations and 120 employees and serve more than 2,000 people per year. We want to engage volunteers and get the community involved.”

Go to https://helptucson.org/ for more information, to volunteer or make an online donation.