“It feels like I have a home again. I’ve lived in the duplex I’ve lived in for 18 years. As I’ve gotten older I can’t get in and out of the facility. I’ll be able to have my own driveway. I won’t have any steps to get up. It’s beautiful, they’ve made room for us and our storage here. It’s beyond my dreams.” Judy McKee
OKMULGEE – A big snip from a pair of oversized scissors cutting a black Muscogee (Creek) Nation ribbon at the Three Ponds Elderly Center finally marked the end of a six-year arrested development saga. The Nation officially held a ribbon cutting ceremony at Akhvse Tvtcenen, or Three Ponds Elderly Housing Addition on Tuesday, Dec. 2. The $13M project sits on 36 acres of land and contains 72 cottage-style single unit homes, a central elders center, and a walking trail. MCN Tribal leadership gathered to tour the facilities after years of setbacks and hangups.
The plans for the development were designed by New Fire Native Design Group. Each 990 square foot unit includes one bedroom, one bathroom, a fully furnished kitchen, a covered driveway, a safe room as well as a washer and dryer. According to New Fire’s website, the small pitched-roofed units resemble homes occupied by elders in the southeastern homelands. The units are arranged in small clusters that surround common areas. The 3,300 square foot elder’s center in the middle of the development resembles a council house that was found at the center of every Muscogee village.
The initial groundbreaking ceremony for the development took place during the Floyd Administration on March 28, 2019. Since then the project has weathered one global pandemic and six Department of Housing secretaries.
MCN Secretary of Housing L S Fields remarked that this day symbolizes a new start for the tribe’s elders. Soon elders within the community will have a new place to call home.
“This is a great day for Muscogee (Creek) Nation. This is a great day for Three Ponds. Most importantly it is a great day for the elders that will be living here and calling this place home.” Fields said.
Tenant applicants like Judy McKee (Mvskoke) have been on the list for a housing unit for four and a half years. McKee is 83 years old and enjoys crafting. Now she is one step closer to living among fellow Mvskoke citizens. She currently lives in Okmulgee, but said she has been anxious to move into the Three Ponds Community because she believes it will provide a safer environment for elders like her.
“Although I live in a good part of town, there was a shooting I witnessed,” McKee said. “I have homeless people knocking on my door, trying to get in. I’m anxious to get out here where I feel safe.”
A Long Time Coming
MCN Principal Chief David Hill said that the project could not have been completed without help across several different departments.
“This is a special day for everyone, especially for our elders,” Chief Hill said. “We couldn’t have done this if it weren’t for everyone involved.”
When the location was under consideration for purchase, MCN Second Chief Del Beaver was the environmentalist specialist who conducted the inspection in 2010. He remarked that from start to finish this project has spanned several administrations.
“I just had a small part of clearing this property,” Chief Beaver said. “Then when I was on the National Council I can remember we needed more money for this project. The National Council had to approve more money for this project. Now here we are ready to cut the ribbon. This didn’t just start with the previous administration, or the administration before that. Three administrations ago is when this thing started.”
Three Ponds’ units will also help accommodate McKee’s limited mobility needs. McKee said she is most looking forward to spending time with others in the community.
“I feel isolated a lot, I live in the middle of Okmulgee,” McKee said. “I’m anxious to be around people that have the same interests as I do. We’re all older, but we still have a lot to look forward to. I think it’s so exciting for the Tribe, for the town, even for the county to show what Creek Nation is doing for their people.”
As of the time of publication, the Nation has still not officially released a statement on the development’s setbacks.
