In western Oklahoma, a ‘Circle of Care’ offers help

Western Oklahoma reveals an open and rugged landscape. From the Wichita Mountains to the empty, treeless prairie, it is a sight unlike many other parts of the state. For some communities, it’s only a short distance to the Texas Panhandle, and even Oklahoma’s own Panhandle.

In this region, the Black Kettle National Grassland sits just outside the Cheyenne community, a re-creation of what the prairie looked like more than a century ago. It shows a truly native landscape, an effort to protect what once was part of an ecosystem from days long past.

In small towns like Cheyenne, they hold on to one another and keep themselves going. And that includes the Roger Mills County Circle of Care thrift store, which provides items the community needs, from clothing and furniture to food, a place a family can go when they are feeling their worst.

The store is truly ecumenical and crosses many denominational lines, which includes Arnett Christian Church, as well as First Baptist Church, First United Methodist Church and the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Cheyenne.

While Cheyenne doesn’t have a Catholic Church, Deacon Bill Roesch and his wife, Maggie, are active at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Sayre, about 30 miles to the south on Interstate 40. Several volunteers and patrons of the store pour themselves into the community, including Ann Merritt, Patsy Wells and Kathy Sadler.

“We service Roger Mills County, but we’ll welcome shoppers from a wide area,” Sadler said.

And they come from a wide area.

“All the way from (the Texas Panhandle), all the way south to Hobart, 75 miles to get here,” Maggie Roesch said. “It depends on the day and what we’re doing here; we’ve had events here where probably 200 people came. But on an average day, there are 150, 200 people, I’d say.”

Like many thrift stores, clothing is the biggest seller, whether back-to-school clothes as the summer comes to an end, or simply winter weather as the cold sets in.

“We have clothing items for youth to extra-large,” Merritt said. “We have baby toys, strollers.”

If a family experiences a disaster, a tornado strike or fire, the store can help the family rebuild. Not as much as a house, but plenty of other items to start again.

“We have bedding. We also have towels, sheets, pillows, blankets rugs, bedspreads,” Wells said. “We also have financial assistance to people in Roger Mills County.”

The Circle of Care doesn’t offer a food pantry, yet does provide help to a local grocery store through gift cards, as well Holiday dinners, including Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

The work extends far beyond helping families with food, too.

“We also do free clothing for kids for back to school, and school supplies, for backpacks, for shoes,” Maggie said.

All items are affordable to those who need it most.

“About 99 percent of our products are $1,” Sadler said, “which makes it great.”

Everett Brazil, III is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.



Photos provided.