Kyle Berryhill is only 30, but since COVID-19 hit, he’s now the oldest in his family.
Within a matter of weeks in late 2020, he lost his uncle who was more like an older brother to him and his grandfather to COVID-19. He’s relied on his Christian faith to push through the past year as he’s tried to keep his wife and children safe.
Kyle’s uncle, Phillip Berryhill, was a choir director with the Chickasaw Nation. He had a natural gift for interacting with kids and a wonderful voice he used to sing songs from old movies and musicals, his nephew said. Kyle and his uncle were close and spent time together just about every weekend. The family would watch movies, play games just be together.
“(Mayor Ed Bolt and I) had to basically learn a second language,” she said.
Next came a mapping system to learn where homeless encampments were and where individuals were staying, which is crucial for the program, she said.
“We were able to match the police department with our engineering department that was just a nice organic, problem-solving solution that happened right there just by having a meeting with our inner-agencies,” she said.
Getting support from Shawnee churches, nonprofits
Craig said they also looked outside of Shawnee at others helping with homelessness.
“We worked with a bunch of churches, groups, nonprofits,” she said. They were each asked how they are doing, what is successful and not successful for them, and how they could help.