Community members and dignitaries, including Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, gathered in Stratford Wednesday to celebrate the completion of the 99+1 Stratford House with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The facility will provide a home and other resources for young women who need a place to live as they age out of the foster care system. It will also serve at-risk women and children and widows.
Mike Priest, who co-founded the 99+1 Foundation with his wife, Gail, expressed their appreciation to the Stratford community Wednesday for supporting their mission.
“This project from its conception has been overwhelming. It’s been amazing to see what the Lord has done to bring his people together,” Mike said. “It’s far more abundant than we would have ever dreamed.”
Housed in a former nursing home building which sat vacant for more than a decade before 99+1 acquired it, renovations to the facility have taken more than a year and a half to complete.
The 14,000-square-foot home includes beautifully decorated private bedrooms and suites for residents, as well as common areas such as a classroom, gym, music room, recreation room and craft room. It also houses a café and coffee shop that will be open to the public later this fall, and will provide residents the opportunity to earn income and gain valuable work experience.
Building renovations have been financed primarily through donations, and much of the work has been completed by volunteers, including a crew that came last summer from an Amish community in Ohio to help with carpentry work and two women’s retreats sponsored by Big Life ministries which drew in women from around the country who spent two weekends on-site decorating rooms throughout the facility. Help has also come from local churches and the Stratford-area community.
“What you’re witnessing is a miracle. It’s the fulfillment of what God spoke to me about three years ago,” Gail Priest told the crowds gathered in front of the facility Wednesday. “We are excited to see how God is going to use this building, these young women and this community. We’re so thankful for everyone that has labored, everyone that has donated, everyone that has prayed. Nothing is too small. We all have a part, and every little bit adds up to the whole.”
Priest said each year 26,000 children age out of the foster care system, and it is estimated 60% of victims of human trafficking have been in the foster care system at some point.
“We’re believing to be able to make a difference to stop these statistics from happening,” Priest said.
Wednesday’s event served as a soft opening for the 99+1 coffee shop, allowing the community to sample coffee and pastries as many of them got their first peek inside the new facility.
Staff from The Red Bird Coffee Shop in Yukon, which has a similar mission of helping those aging out of foster care, were on hand Wednesday to help behind the counter of the Stratford shop and will be helping to train residents of the 99+1 House to staff the Stratford coffee shop in the future.
Kimberly Hefty, a 99+1 volunteer, said the Stratford House welcomed its first six residents last week.
“Right now, the main focus is allowing them to get settled in and have a bit of a transition period,” Hefty said.
Once that is done, Hefty said she expects an official grand opening date for the public café and coffee shop will be announced.
Gov. Stitt took a tour of the 99+1 Stratford House Wednesday morning, before speaking to those gathered for the ribbon cutting.
“You guys have a special, special community here,” Stitt said. “It’s so cool to see a community like this roll out in support of this great organization.”
Stitt said the statistics related to children aging out of foster care without the appropriate support systems in place are heartbreaking.
“We can’t pass laws in Oklahoma City that fix these problems. It’s neighbors, it’s churches getting involved, and it’s places like this that are going to change the lives of those 18-yearolds that are coming out of foster care. Giving them a hope is so important,” Stitt said, adding that he thinks facilities like the 99+1 House are a great idea. “Hopefully more of these will come about across the Great State of Oklahoma.”
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