FRONTLINES: Essential Workers in Tulsa, OK
A CreeseWorks Project, Sponsored by the TYPROS Foundation
With the advent of the novel coronavirus impacting life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, day to day life has shifted for the people who have now been deemed essential workers. This includes a selection of people from medical and physical assistants, food service workers, and retail service workers whose jobs have been labeled as essential in the past few weeks.
FRONTLINES goal is to capture people in our community whose lives have been affected as they support the community through the pandemic. Below are their stories. Thank you to everyone who participated in this project and thank you to the TYPROS Foundation for sponsoring this project.
“I come in to work worried about who might come in, whether or not they have the virus.”
“When I come home, before I see my family, I immediately take off everything and put it in the laundry and then take a shower before kisses.”
Community Health Center
Brenda Escobedo MA, Ariana Cortez MA, Crystal Hensley PA-C, Andrea Newman MA, Meyling Hernandez PA-C, Isabel Cueto MA, and Genesis Gonzalez MA are among the staff of this clinic located in the Kendall-Whittier neighborhood. Their ages range between 20 - 40.
OSU Center for Health Sciences Drive Through Testing
Located at the OSU Center for Health Sciences Building, there’s a telehealth bus and drive-up testing center for people to get tested for Covid-19.
“It taught me how to be flexible and take things as they come to me and handle them to the best of my ability. I don’t take my children to many places now and try to keep them at home as much as I can. At the beginning we didn’t get to see much of our family and we always would get together once or twice a week.”
Amira - Physical Therapist, Home Health
Amira is a home health physical therapist, finding herself in an uncontrolled environment on a regular basis.
“Once the pandemic started to happen and there were issues with PPE, we were regularly getting updates on when the PPE was getting here and what protocols would be put in place. I am now currently wearing a surgical mask, a face shield, and gloves with every patient.”
Chimera Café
Located in the Arts district, Chimera has shifted to curbside delivery and pick-up while managing to keep their doors open to serve the community.
“[The pandemic has] basically turned life upside down as far as we know. It’s definitely made us really rethink how we’re doing things. It’s changed everything.”
“Finding a job has been hard at this time. I go to school and they kicked us off campus with everything happening [due to the Coronavirus]. It’s helped a lot help paying bills.”
The Motherland Tulsa
Located in North Tulsa, The Motherland Tulsa is a dispensary that has been able to continue to serve the community with adjusted safety measures in place due to the pandemic.
Kenya’s Way Counseling & Healing Services
Kenya’s Way is a therapy service based out of South Tulsa. She offers a variety of services that deal with mental health and improvement.
“My practice moved to complete Telehealth, due to COVID-19. Within a blink of an eye I was juggling seeing my clients virtually and homeschooling my five year old, all out of my home office. It took some adjusting, but I knew my clients needed me more now than ever. Telehealth has been a game changer and life saver!”
Wine & Spirits Barn
Wine & Spirits Barn is a liquor store located in Midtown Tulsa. With the onset of the pandemic, they’ve adapted their business in order to keep things going.
“Covid-19 has affected [us] in that we’ve seen a great increase [in business]. We’ve started to do curbside [service]. We got our plastic shields, we wear masks, we sanitize the door handle and this counter, and we’ve isolated [service to] one customer at a time. We’re looking into doing delivery.”
Green Country Testing
Green Country Testing is a full-service environmental and medical cannabis laboratory in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“My workload has actually increased. Most of our clients are Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) regulated water treatment and landfill facilities. With more people staying home we are creating more local waste and demand on the treatment centers has gone up so that frequency of testing has had to increase to compensate.”
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