Clients line up outside Iron Gate in downtown Tulsa. Most are homeless, and usually 218 of them are allowed into the kitchen to eat together in what Iron Gate Executive Director Carrie Vesely Henderson calls a very “high-touch” experience.
This is what it looks like since the COVID-19 outbreak: They’ve had to switch to grab-and-go meals. Most eat sitting on the sidewalk outside Tulsa’s largest standalone soup kitchen and grocery pantry as a heavy rain turns to hail. Iron Gate has seen a 40 percent increase in food pantry traffic. Employees have seen volunteers and even donors in the line for groceries.
Most social service agencies in Tulsa have had to adjust their operations. The Community Food Bank of eastern Oklahoma has seen increased demand due to the skyrocketing unemployment rate. Hunger Free Oklahoma saw another problem: food industry workers unemployed, adding to the crisis. They started Tulsa Kitchens Unite, which pays local restaurants to make meals to give to those in need.
A homeless encampment below the levee on the Arkansas River has been growing. Shelters are limiting contact with people experiencing homelessness, and more are being forced to sleep outside. Mental Health Association Oklahoma continues to do outreach, giving food, toiletries and COVID-19 information to the people living there. Homeless Outreach and Rapid Response Clinical Coordinator Jessica Kelly says, “We’re going to see an influx of people experiencing homelessness” due to the outbreak’s resulting financial crisis.
What follows is a multimedia essay of what it looks like for those who serve and receive amid the COVID-19 outbreak.
‘Living on the Levee’
Video
Images
Jackie Genske receives a food package from Shawn Kline, a social worker from Mental Health Association Oklahoma, during homeless outreach below the levee on the Arkansas River west of downtown Tulsa Friday, April 24, 2020. The encampments have grown as downtown shelters limit contact and entry due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Amanda Pippin, a social worker from Mental Health Association Oklahoma, calls for medical help for Megan Smith at her encampment below the levee on the Arkansas River west of downtown Tulsa Friday, April 24, 2020. The encampments have grown as downtown shelters limit contact and entry due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Smith’s face was swelling due to a suspected insect bite. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Amanda Pippin, a social worker from Mental Health Association Oklahoma, makes her way through an encampment as she does homeless outreach below the levee on the Arkansas River west of downtown Tulsa Friday, April 24, 2020. The encampments have grown as downtown shelters limit contact and entry due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Tony Fletcher eats an orange at his camp after an outreach group from Mental Health Association Oklahoma dropped food off Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Fletcher says that the camp on the Arkansas River below the levee west of downtown Tulsa has grown since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Tonya Gariss has lived in a camp below the levee on the Arkansas River west of downtown Tulsa for about a month Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The camp has grown since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Roland Johnson lives in a camp on the Arkansas River below the levee west of downtown Tulsa Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The camp continues to grow since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons)
‘By Any Means Necessary’
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Nicole Ratliff and other employees fill containers with food at Bodean Seafood Tuesday, April 21, 2020. The meals were being prepared to hand out as part of Hunger Free Oklahoma’s Tulsa Kithcens Unite. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Greg Raskin with he Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma unloads food for Hunger Free Oklahoma’s Tulsa Kitchens Unite Tuesday, April 21, 2020. Raskin says the skyrocketing unemployment rate in Oklahoma is creating increased need for their services. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Michael Thomas, who is homeless, waits in a long line to receive food from Iron Gate Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Iron Gate, who usually serves a sit-down meal in their dining room has had to switch to grab and go meals during the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Angela Hobbs(left), Michael and Toyia Swinger wait to receive food from Iron Gate Wednesday, April 22, 2020. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Toyia and Michael Swinger wait to receive food at Iron Gate downtown Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The two have been homeless for 8 or 9 months. “In our normal existence, we’re very high touch,” executive director Carrie Vesely Henderson says. Usually the dining room holds 218 people at a time. Now clients are served to-go meals. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Larry Crawford protects himself from a hail storm while waiting in line to get a to-go meal from Iron Gate Wednesday, April 22, 2020. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Tony O’Dell sits outside and eats to-go food he received from Iron Gate Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The to-go meals have multiple servings of hot food as well as a sandwich for later. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Candy Hoff receives food from Hunger Free Oklahoma’s Tulsa Kitchens Unite at Skelly Elementary School Wednesday, April 22, 2020. “The ultimate mission is to end hunger. In times like these it’s by any means necessary,” executive director Chris Bernard says. Tulsa Kitchens Unite pays local restaurants to make meals to give to people in need. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Karen Funez gets food while her son Jose,8, looks on in the back seat at Skelly Elementary School Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Funez received food from the school for her children and food from Hunger Free Oklahoma’s Tulsa Kitchens Unite for the entire family. (Photo by Mike Simons)
‘A Whole New Wave of People’
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Images
Karen Funez gets food while her son Jose,8, looks on in the back seat at Skelly Elementary School Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Funez received food from the school for her children and food from Hunger Free Oklahoma’s Tulsa Kitchens Unite for the entire family. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Shauna Duvall and Greg Longbrook pose for a portrait while waiting in line at the Iron Gate food pantry Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The two said they haven’t been to a food pantry in years, but Duvall lost her restaurant job. The Iron Gate food pantry has seen a 40 percent increase due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Iron Gate employee Brandon Piercy approaches a car in a long line with groceries at the Iron Gate food pantry Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Iron Gate employees have seen donors and volunteers in the line during the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
A woman named Susan watches as groceries are loaded into her trunk at the Iron Gate food pantry Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The pantry used to let clients come inside and pick food out, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak has started handing out pre-packaged food to clients in a drive-thru style. (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Rev. Walter Riley(right) receives food at the Iron Gate food pantry Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Riley is not a regular client of food pantries and said he hasn’t been to one in a long time, but as he was handed food kept sayingm “It’s a blessing.” (Photo by Mike Simons) 
Walk up clients get food from the Iron Gate food pantry in downtown Tulsa Wednesday, April 22, 2020. (Photo by Mike Simons)
Mike Simons is a staff photographer at the Tulsa World. He worked on this project while furloughed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. He graduated from University of Central Oklahoma with a degree in journalism/photographic arts. He is married to Brandi and they have two daughters, Sonnie and Sarah. Find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @mikesimonsphoto or his website mikesimonsphoto.com.
How to Help
Contact information for agencies mentioned in this video and photo essay:
Iron Gate
501 W. Archer St.
Tulsa, OK 74103
Phone: (918) 879-1702
irongatetulsa.org
Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma
1304 N. Kenosh Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74106
Phone: (918) 585-2800
Fax: (918) 585-2861
okfoodbank.org/donate
Hunger Free Oklahoma
907 S Detroit Ave, Suite 600
Tulsa, OK 74120
Phone: (918) 591-2491
hungerfreeok.org/contact-us/
Mental Health Association
5330 East 31st St., Suite 1000
Tulsa, OK 74135
Phone: (918) 585-1213
mhaok.org
The Coronavirus Storytelling Project is a collaboration between the Oklahoma-based Inasmuch Foundation, the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and Oklahoma Watch to help state journalists who have been furloughed or displaced as well as those in struggling community news organizations. The Inasmuch Foundation has pledged $50,000 to launch the project and provide five $500 grants to those accepted into the project each week for the next four months. Apply here.
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