Oklahoma News Report

The troubled economy and the winter weather are creating big problems for organizations that help needy children in Oklahoma. Homeless shelters are reporting record numbers of babies and toddlers living under their roofs.

The City Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter in Oklahoma City always sees a spike in the number of families it serves during cold weather, but this year is different. More babies and young children than ever before are calling the shelter home, and that number is expected to go even higher in the next few weeks.

“It just sort of happened overnight,” said Heather Selement, director of family ministries for City Rescue Mission. One night we had about 20 kids, and the next night we had 40. It’s just a huge increase we were not expecting.”

Almost 60 children live in the shelter right now, and taking care of all of the babies puts a strain on resources. The shelter is in desperate need of diapers, especially sizes 4, 5 and 6. Supplies of baby wipes and older stage baby food are also running low. Healthy snacks for older children and toddlers are needed too.

“The kids that we serve, this is the best place that they can be in the situation that they’re in,” Selement said. “We want to make sure they have everything they need and we’re showing them the love of God in every way possible so that when they leave here, they leave with something even if they don’t leave with much.”

Kathleen Kopp-Badgley recently brought her four young children to the shelter. She and her disabled husband could no longer pay their utility bills. City Rescue Mission was the last resort for the family. Family, friends and even other shelters were unable to accommodate all six of them.

“I just had ultimate fear,” Kopp-Badgely said. “You can’t think about yourself anymore because you’ve got four children looking at you, saying, ‘I want to eat. I’m hungry. I’m cold.’ It’s just devastating.”

Homeless shelters are not the not only ones seeing more need. Infant Crisis Services in Oklahoma City supplies families having a hard time keeping up with the expense of having a baby. Requests for their services hit a record high of 1,000 in September.

“We were shocked at that number,” Jo Lynne Jones, operations director for Infant Crisis Services, said. “That was the most we’d seen in one month in the 24 years our doors have been open. Then in October, we saw more than 1,200 babies and toddlers. We just couldn’t believe this huge increase in clients.”

Jones said Infant Crisis Services also needs day-to-day baby items like diapers, wipes and formula. Jones is also concerned that some parents may be trying to save money by adding too much water to infant formula to make it stretch. She points out that can be very dangerous for babies. Infant Crisis Services is working with its clients to make sure they exactly follow the directions on the can, and making sure they have enough formula to supply their babies.