Neighborhood Services Organization

PROJECT PURPOSE

Since 1920, Neighborhood Services Organization has been serving the needs of Oklahoma County's most vulnerable populations - people experiencing homelessness, people with mental illness, families who face food insecurity, and Oklahomans in need of affordable dental health care. Each year, NSO helps our neighbors more than 100,000 times. During the pandemic, NSO was one of the few nonprofits in the community that NEVER closed its doors. Continuing to serve our clients while mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on our dedicated staff required tremendous resources. Our employees stepped up heroically to fill gaps. Hiring new employees has been nearly impossible, particularly for critical roles. Today, our current staff are exhausted from the two-year marathon. It is vital that we provide incentives to retain and attract new employees whose work is essential. This includes dental hygienists, security personnel (particularly for our transitional living center for young homeless men), drivers, and line-level program staff.

EVIDENCE

The Office of Personnel Management issued guidance to federal agencies during the pandemic, advising that front-line employees should qualify for a 25% hazard pay increase. These employees are the ones who connect with clients and are therefore more susceptible to biological impact of viruses and bacteria.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Oklahomans with out dental insurance found it nearly impossible to find oral health care during the pandemic, often turning to emergency rooms. NSO responded by expanding its Low Cost Dental Clinic, which operated at the highest possible capacity throughout the pandemic, while most other dental offices closed or would not accept new patients. Individuals experiencing homelessness faced tremendous impacts from COVID-19. They had higher rates of infection, higher rates of mortality, fewer resources to battle the virus, and (often) no one to help them when they fell ill. NSO serves a number of homeless individuals who have mental illness, which further exacerbates issues. NSO also works with pregnant women and moms with babies at our WIC Clinic. Although the need for supplemental food vouchers and child development education never ceased during the pandemic, many WIC offices throughout the state closed their doors. This left many women and families without the nutritious food needed to give their babies a healthy start to life. At the request of the state, NSO stayed open and served as a catchment clinic for all 77 counties.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

NSO will track the impact of the incentive pay on the number of applicants for each announced position, the overall quality of applicants, the retention rate of current employees, and the ability of NSO to fill its vacant positions.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma