Carrie Coppernoll, columnist

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David Stanley Ford

The face of homelessness is young, old, in between

By Carrie Coppernoll    Comments Comment on this article3
Published: January 8, 2009


From left, Steve Gilley, Wayne Bradbury, Carrie Coppernoll, Josh Iles and Teresa Rupe serve dinner at City Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City. PHOTOS BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN

Editor’s note: Carrie Coppernoll’s yearlong series "A Year of Giving” focuses on volunteering. It is published Thursdays.

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Jan 7Carrie Coppernoll shows us what volunteering at City Rescue Mission...

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The City Rescue Mission

City Rescue Mission is a shelter providing emergency assistance and long-term recovery programs for homeless adults and children. Volunteer opportunities include tutoring and mentoring children and adults, data entry, housekeeping, emergency repairs, medical and dental work and kitchen duties. For more information, call 232-2709 or go to www.cityrescue.org.

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I didn’t expect children.

Serving food at the City Rescue Mission homeless shelter, I didn’t think of children. But one of the first people through the line was a grade-schooler peeking at me through the foggy serving line glass. I waved at him and he ducked inside his puffy coat. He peered out, grinning and giggling.

Many faces
I thought the face of homelessness was a grizzled old man who’d spent years on the streets. Turns out, the face of homelessness is also a tan-haired boy barely tall enough to see over the counter.

I served baked beans in the shelter’s dinner line as part of my series "A Year of Giving.”

The first people to make their way through the City Rescue Mission meal line were families in the Bridge to Life program, designed to help parents get back on their feet. Then came the volunteers. Then women. Then men.

Bearded men hid under layers of sweatshirts, jackets and torn overalls. One man smiled down at the food line with powder-blue lips. Men my age avoided making eye contact with anyone. Men my grandfather’s age gazed into space.

Some of the adults are regulars, said Steven Gilley, a kitchen volunteer who served beef tips next to me. But he’s seeing many more new faces as the weather and economy turn cold.

Looking for hope
The regulars and the new folks don’t just come to the mission for food, kitchen manager Wayne Bradbury told me. They come for solace, camaraderie and hope. Bradbury feeds more than 1,000 meals a day, but, he said, "Man cannot live by bread alone.”

As I found out, children cannot live by bread alone, either.

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David Stanley Ford



Related Topics: Social Issues, Homelessness


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Burt,
I'm inclined to agree with you. My wife and I have a toddler, and I can't imagine what it must be like to wander the streets of OKC in freezing weather looking for food and shelter. I agree it is abusive to tow a child around during freezing weather.
For the grace of God, I'm not in those shoes. I guess I don't know what I'd do if I were. I'm sure I'd find a way to give my toddler and family the shelter and care even if it meant leaving them in good hands while I looked for a job.
Boomer, Washington - Jan 8, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Often the case of child homelessness is a waste because there are ample resources available to children to prevent this from happening. The quandary is that the child would need to be separated from the parent(s). In other words, the system is designed to help the child in spite of the parent's problems. So if a parent becomes homeless the child can get help not available to the parent. It actually becomes a case of child abuse if you do not provide food and shelter to a minor.
burt, edmond - Jan 8, 2009 at 1:44 pm
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Ignore burt
I find it surprising that anyone let alone a writer on the Staff of the Oklahoman didn't know that homelessness in America affects small children! In Oklahoma its well known. Look around your city or town and see those who are less fortunate walking around, pushing stainless steel cadilacs full of their belongings followed by their offsprings ages 2 and up. What is more surprising to me is how bad of stewards the local charities are with the gifts they are given to help the poor and how much duplication of services is evident. Handing out bags of flour, cornmeal, dried cereal to men/women and family living on the street without a shelter over their heads or a way to cook seems waistful. Dare anyone who is homeless come forward to talk openly about the lack of services or the lack of caring thats in Oklahoma City - why? who is going to listen and who isn't going to label that homeless man/woman anything but an angry ingrate.
Michael, Oklahoma City - Jan 8, 2009 at 12:45 pm

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