Our History

Riding shotgun on turn-of-the century stagecoaches isn’t the kind of activity that springs to mind when you think of human service. However, according to some old publications, protecting stagecoach drivers and passengers was one of the services that the early Volunteers of America performed in Oklahoma. The organization had a presence here when the state was still part of Indian Territory in the early 1900s.

The belief that local people know best how to serve local needs is a philosophy to which Volunteers of America remains true. From the Tulsa headquarters, Volunteers of America Oklahoma has expanded services and community outreach to our other locations in Oklahoma City, Muskogee and Bernice.

Volunteers of America Oklahoma provides affordable housing to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with specialized residential care for individuals with Prader-Willi Syndrome. Volunteers of America serves the homeless population of Oklahoma by helping individuals in obtaining permanent supportive housing and assisting those individuals with managing their income through our Payee Services Program.

Volunteers of America Oklahoma also helps senior citizens through a variety of programs. We provide affordable housing for low-income seniors in the Oklahoma City, Kingfisher, Choctaw and Broken Arrow areas and in Kansas. Our Muskogee office’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program (R.S.V.P.) provides people over 55 with opportunities to volunteer in their community.

Volunteers of America Oklahoma’s Veterans Employment Services is working to help veterans experiencing homelessness with occupational, classroom and on-the-job training, as well as job search and placement assistance including follow-up services. VOA Oklahoma Veterans Employment Services is offered in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

This Is Why We Do What We Do

We are Volunteers of America.
And we are the first to step forward,
Taking on the most crushing problems.
The dire.
The hopeless.
The untouchable.
And we make a difference.
Because we not only perceive the burdens of others,
We know firsthand what it means to make them lighter.
This is why we do what we do.

Our story is long and rich.
And widely unknown.
But we’re not chasing fame. Or glory.
Our lives are meant for service.
For lifting up the broken-hearted.
For finding the lost.
For reaching out with mercy and compassion
To those who thought they were beyond reach.
For uplifting all our lives.
This is why we do what we do.

Every day, we see our brothers and sisters
lying beaten and bruised on their own roads to Jericho.
We act because we’re trained.
We’re impassioned.
We’re honored.
This is why we do what we do.

Like our Great Exemplar,
We go among the unclean,
the broken,
the forgotten
and the outcast
and we use our lives
to make theirs better.
This is why we do what we do.

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