Dr. Chan Hellman from the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt and Director of the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Justin Brown listen as one of 16 School of Architecture students presents her vision of a possible Community HOPE Center in northeast Oklahoma City.

Architecture students propose OKC building reuse for HOPE Center program

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

On September 18, Oklahoma First Lady Sarah Stitt and other Oklahoma government officials gathered at Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) School of Architecture to listen as students proposed a reuse of an Oklahoma City (OKC) school building as a Community HOPE Center as part of Governor Kevin Stitt’s initiative to help those families adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In early August, Governor Stitt announced the allocation of $15 million of coronavirus relief funds to go toward the development of Community HOPE Centers around the state as places which provide a safe environment for families to use as a pathway to assistance during these difficult times. The HOPE Program has already opened several community centers around the state with plans to open over 30 more in the coming months.

“I believe the idea of the HOPE Community Center Program places hope and resources in the heart of communities in need,” said First Lady Stitt. “Instead of expecting people in need to seek out assistance, we’re bringing resources to their communities. We’re offering a pathway for these children and families to create hope.”

Fourth year architecture students presented a plan to reuse historic Martin Luther King Jr School in northeast OKC as a Community HOPE Center. These HOPE centers will be used to provide mental and emotional health resources, counselling offices, meals, help with homework and internet capable computers, Department of Human Services offices, among other amenities.

Professor Suzanne Bilbeisi, the head of OSU’s School of Architecture, saw this as an opportunity for her students to get involved in the pandemic relief effort in the state. “It is always a goal of the school to be involved with community issues when possible, and I appreciate the work of our faculty member Dr. Tom Spector in identifying an opportunity in the community for the redevelopment of an existing OKC building to serve this unique purpose,” Bilbeisi said. “The students did a wonderful job responding to this design challenge; it focused their effort on more than just the bricks and mortar of a project – it forced them to consider how a building can truly contribute to the healing and growth of a community.”

Justin Brown, the director of the Oklahoma Department of Human services sees the HOPE program as a new way of implementing strategies to solve problems and provide resources to our communities. “Hope is more important now than ever,” said Brown. “Understanding how the idea of hope impacts our communities, the collective population and how we can help foster that idea is extremely important.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Jeff Hopper | CEAT Marketing | 405-744-2745 | jeff.hopper@okstate.edu