Even though a relatively small percentage of homeless people in America have died from the Chinese coronavirus, more people are living on the streets and the need for food, clothing and shelter is growing.

And that situation will worsen when cold weather hits, according Pastor Steve Whitaker of John 3:16 Mission.

Steve Whitaker and his son, Steven Whitaker, who is the chief of operations for the mission, talked about the homeless situation in an interview on Tulsa Beacon Weekend on KCFO AM970.

“Most people have been shocked to hear how few people in the homeless population have had COVID-19 and (the recent) announcement at the national level is that across the entire nation in all the missions, including the Salvation Army, and all the outreach effort  – there have been only 211 deaths among the homeless in the entire nation,” Steve Whitaker said. “It’s got people wondering what is going on and why aren’t we doing what homeless people are doing. I guess living outside is the right thing to do.”

The pandemic has impacted the Mission. Because of social distancing, they have reduced the number of people that they serve dinner. They don’t have as many spot in beds to offer due to the virus (and the same is true of other shelters in Tulsa).

“The long and the short of it is that we have to reduce the number of people we see on the whole,” Steve Whitaker said. “People have noted that there are a lot people on the streets right now and if they are wondering what’s going on, there just isn’t a bed for people right now. We are hoping that changes pretty quickly.”

Chapel services have been modified to make extra space. Group singing has been limited to contain the spread of germs.

“Praise and worship is important to people who just got saved,” Steve Whitaker said. “And nobody gets turned away from a meal.”

Fall is here and winter in Tulsa can have a devastating effect on people without proper shelter and clothing. People can freeze to death.

“We have talked about it among the different providers  and if we have to break the guidelines, we just have to break the guidelines,” said Steve Whitaker. “We can’t allow someone knowingly to freeze to death on the streets. We will just have to take whatever measures we will have to take at that point and just hope and pray that the Lord gets us through that.”

A meeting in early October was a discussion among nonprofits about how many beds would be available for the homeless when bad weather hits.

“This brings home the fact that we have jamming too many bodies into buildings for a long time and we’ve got to address that at some point,” Steve Whitaker said.

John 3:16 Mission did not shut down their programs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“John 3:16 is an evangelical, Christian organization,” Steve Whitaker said. “It is not a parachurch. It is not an agency. It is a church.”

Part of the expansion of the ministry was the acquisition a building and acreage in West Tulsa, called The Refuge.

“The Refuge is a residential center we are still in the process of rebuilding,” said Steve Whitaker. “One of the real dreams there is to create some job opportunities for them, job training. And along the way to create a meaningful income stream for the Mission.”

The Refuge has a training farm and its purpose is to give people a meaningful recovery experience, Steven Whitaker said. There are partnerships with different organizations to teach life skills.

“Gardening has been a part of my family’s culture forever,” said Steve Whitaker. “It’s nice to be having lunch at John 3:16 and have a salad when a lot of the parts of that salad came from our own garden. This is food that the homeless grew and it was prepared in the kitchen by them or volunteers.”

Part of the outreach of the Mission to help the homeless improve their health and good nutrition is a goal.

“They need food that is good for the brain and good for the body,” Steve Whitaker said. “And good for the spirit.”

The Mission added a new commercial kitchen at The Refuge property (which used to be Chouteau Elementary School). With a full-time cook, the kitchen helps serve the women’s ministry for the women who live there.

“We are able to feed 120 people three square meals a day and in addition do some catering,” Steven Whitaker said. “That’s where some of the farm items have been utilized most of all.”

That kitchen was also used this summer to help feed the kids in the summer program.

“Their learning is directly attributable to nutrition,” Steve Whitaker said.

John 3:16 Mission also had a karate school for kids.

“We get to be the hands and feet to reach out to those who are less fortunate,” Steven Whitaker said. “With this crazy year we are having, for some of us it’s been the same but others it’s a challenge. And that’s true for the homeless as well.”

Every year, John 3:16 Mission feeds thousands of poor Tulsans a hot dinner on Thanksgiving and also provides bags of groceries – including a turkey and all the trimmings.

“We are going to be feeding the 5,000 again this year,” Steve Whitaker said. “We think we are going to do 5,000 families at Thanksgiving time. That’s going to pose a challenge, asking people to go out and buy their turkeys and bring them to the mission.

“We’ve got a way to distribute those. People will be safe. We will put them in their car for them. We are looking for creative ways to minister.”

People will be able to donate turkeys and other food items at various businesses – including Under the Sun Garden Center at 91st Street and Sheridan Road – throughout the metro area in October and November.

The needs are rising.

“The predictions are that we will see a lot more people homeless in the last quarter or the first quarter of next year,” Steve Whitaker said.

The Mission’s main site is 506 N. Cheyenne Ave. The corporate offices are at The Refuge, 575 N. 39th W. Ave. 

To donate or volunteer, go to www.john316.org.