A saint in the city

Day Drinking with Iron Gate director Connie Cronley

Where:  Maybelle Bridge

What:  A thermos full of coffee — no cups

Iron Gate executive director Connie Cronley speaks directly, sometimes excitedly. We meet downtown at her office in the back of Trinity Episcopal Church, where Iron Gate still remains after “Pearlgate,” last year’s controversial effort to relocate the soup kitchen and food pantry to 3rd and Peoria in the Pearl District.

Cronley tells me she’s been given a map to an underpass by one of her guests, a frequenter of the shelter it provides. We head to the Maybelle Bridge north of Cain’s.

The Tulsa Voice: How long have you been with Iron Gate now?

Connie Cronley: About ten years, not always as hired help. At first as a volunteer, then as a board member and now at my current position.

TTV: So, you’ve worked your way—

CC: Down. [Laughs] 

TTV: You made the mistake of showing yourself as competent?

CC: Well, I said when I started that I would raise money, but I did not want to be part of the day-to-day operations–now look at me!

TTV: Why did you think that? Because you didn’t have the time?

CC: No, more because I didn’t have the training or background. Years back I got involved with an animal rescue group and now I have six cats and a big dog. I thought, “I’m going to have all of these people living with me.”

But at some point and time our director left and I was telling people, “Look, we have to have someone who can raise money, someone who can get us exposure, publicity, etc…” And then I thought, “Wait a minute. I can do that.” I had already done it for the Tulsa Ballet.

TTV: Let’s address your facility. I think we all know the battle your organization had to fight last year when you had a place to move to. It met such strong opposition from local government and The Pearl District that it was shut down. Where are you now?

CC: We call that experience “Pearlgate.” I think we all knew that we weren’t going to be able to move our organization without some opposition, but I think we were all surprised by both the volume and the volume of the opposition, most surprisingly by a number of people who identified themselves as Episcopalians. I suppose they felt some ownership for the fact that Iron Gate started in the Episcopalian church, but I’m unsure. 

I know that Trinity [Episcopal Church] is anxious for us to move on. We are anxious to move on because you can see how small our space is to work in and serve the community, but places are tight and costly because all of the sudden downtown is booming.

One of the reasons we are anxious to move is so that we can get everybody inside when they come to eat, because the perception is that only people who are homeless come to eat at Iron Gate. These are our guests who line up for food outside, or go to smoke a cigarette after - these are the people that downtowners see and say, “Those are the bums that associate with Iron Gate.” Actually, only about one-fourth of the people we serve are homeless. They don’t see the families that come. They don’t see the children who come to us to get groceries. So, that’s why we say whenever we find a new facility we want everyone to be able to come inside - so that they may stand in line with dignity.

TTV: What is the main issue facing the people who use Iron Gate’s services? Is it poverty, mental health, addiction?

CC: Well, I think the homeless people that come and see us have mental health issues and addiction issues to a certain extent - and obviously this has played into the fact that they are also poor. But the other people we serve, either at the soup kitchen or the grocery pantry - their issue is poverty.

TTV: The working poor.

CC: Yes. Even if they have two or three jobs, they are having trouble making ends meet, and then they have one crisis, like a car that breaks down or a child falls ill, and their food budget is gone. So, they can come to us and we can help make the ends meet. In that way, Iron Gate prevents homelessness. We are their safety net until they can get back on their feet.

TTV: Is the largest misconception about your organization the idea that all you do is feed and enable homeless people?

CC: Yes. I think that is something we work every day to change, that perception. Many people who live on the street can’t work. It’s not about wanting to work. They have disabilities, unaddressed mental health and addiction issues—we all know about them and we need something bigger than a soup kitchen to make a change in their lives. However, what we want to point out is that we are seeing so many seniors who are using our pantry for food to offset the costs of their medication, students with little or no income, families with one or both parents who still live below the poverty line - these are the people we serve where it can really make a difference between whether they can afford to keep living or they become homeless. 

TTV: I get very offended when I hear or read someone say that they don’t want “those people” hanging around their neighborhood.

CC: “Those people.” Yes. That chasm of misunderstanding.

TTV: When the “Pearlgate” episode was going on last year, I was hopeful that some wealthy, good-hearted person would step up and say, “You know what? I got this. I can help this organization find a place and I’ll fund it.” That hasn’t happened has it?

CC: That has not happened. What has happened is this: The groundswell of support from people, especially young, creative, professional people in this community have come forward to donate their time and resources because they refuse to live in a place that chooses profit over people. 

TTV: You could have let somebody else do this and just sat on the board or something. Why didn’t you?

CC: Well, you know, it’s hard to find someone foolish enough to do this job! [laughs]

TTV: Yeah, that’s funny, but I don’t buy it. You beam when you talk about your job. You’re happy doing this work.

CC: I really do care about it. I went from wearing little black dresses at the Ballet to having my fashion critiqued on a daily basis by the homeless—and let me tell you something, they are not bashful when it comes to criticizing me. This has been the best learning experience for me, the compassion experience. To see a population that I certainly wouldn’t have seen at the ballet… I think that maybe one thing I bring to this is being a bridge between those two societies. I’m not afraid to be there, and perhaps people will think, “If this little white girl isn’t afraid to be there, maybe it’s not a scary place.”

For more from Beau, read about his visit with Santa.