Oklahoma City community awarded $500K grant
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — It is an effort aimed at breaking the cycle of generational poverty.
A neighborhood with a long list of trouble and crime is getting a $500,000 grant. The goal is to transform the Southwest Oklahoma City community of Will Rogers Courts, which saw multiple murders earlier this year.
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When the grant was announced, there were a lot of smiling faces and glimmers of hope from those living at Will Rogers Courts, as organizers announced their plans for what they will do with this grant.
“What I’ve done is just taken it upon myself to educate myself, so I don’t fall victim to that,” Antone Bates-Bay, resident of Will Rogers Courts said.
Many in the Will Rogers Courts community say they’re trying to stay ahead of the curve, but feel the system has set them up for failure.
Now, assistance is on the way.
“Lilyfield’s mission is to provide families for at risk children and youth, and we do that through a variety of programs that are really aimed at serving children who either have child welfare involvement or have risk factors for child welfare involvement,” Holly Towers, Executive Director of Lilyfield said.
The Oklahoma Housing Authority partnered with Lilyfield to apply for a grant through the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
“We felt like this would be a big opportunity,” Towers said.
$500,000 will be put towards the community.
“Transportation is a barrier,” said Laura Gregory, Director of Resident Services at the Oklahoma Housing Authority. “Employment is a barrier. Child care is a barrier. So, what we want to do by bringing our partners, for example, Lilyfield, into with this property is to allow the reduction of barriers so our families can not only survive, but thrive.”
In addition, the money will also be used to transform an old run down building into a thriving community center, offering all kinds of services, and giving neighbors hope.
“We’ve been dealing with this for the last 92 years,” Bates-Bay said. “The basic necessities that we need. We do need access to better educational opportunities.”
They are in the early stages of rolling out this grant, but they have been taking community input on some needs around the neighborhood.
The new community center is expected to be open sometime in spring of 2025.
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