BatesLine on Tulsa Beacon Weekend: Homelessness, Broken Arrow mosque

Last Saturday, January 24, 2025, I was on Tulsa Beacon Weekend with Jeff Brucculeri. The weekly public affairs show, sponsored by the Tulsa Beacon newspaper, airs every Saturday from noon to 1 pm on AM 970 KCFO. Jeff and I talked about the City of Tulsa's incoherent response to homelessness and a bit about the Broken Arrow zoning case involving a proposed mosque. It was a fun conversation, and the time flew by.

As part of the discussion of homelessness, I mentioned City of Hope Outreach, a ministry to street people led by Jon Maust. City of Hope seeks out and works with the homeless who don't go to the shelters.

We have a simple, but life-changing mission: Identify those members of the homeless community who desire to put the streets behind them. We Connect those individuals with a local church and a mentor in order to Equip them with the tools and assistance needed to fully reintegrate; and then Follow Through with them until their reintegration is complete.

As I said on the show, if the City of Tulsa were serious about addressing homelessness, the committee that's deciding how to spend the $75 million taxpayers approved would include people who work with the homeless and understand the root causes, people like Jon Maust of City of Hope and Steve Whittaker of John 3:16 Mission. Instead, that money is going to provide employment for gender-studies majors in non-profit organizations.

Bruce and Leta Wilbanks of the Marriage and Family Initiative were Jeff's guests in the first half hour of the show, and they spoke about upcoming marriage-related events coming up over the next month or so.

We recorded on Thursday the 22nd, so I was safe and burrowed in at home when the show went out on Saturday. With all the preparations for last weekend's snow storm, I neglected to get word out about this in time so you could listen live; sorry about that. Although the episode has already aired, you can listen again until this coming Saturday via the KCFO app and the KCFO website. Click this link, then click Tulsa Beacon Weekend. (The most recent episode of Joe Riddle's Old Time Radio Theater is also on the app for your listening enjoyment.)

Here's a direct link to the audio of the episode.