The Wewoka Transformational Task Force, a brand new formation of business, community and local leadership is conducting a community-wide town hall meeting on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Justice Rudolph Hargrave Civic Center located at 123 South Mekusukey Ave. in Wewoka.

The town hall meeting is sponsored by MetaFund, an Oklahoma-based 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization whose published mission statement describes the organization’s dedication to partnering with other nonprofits, the private sector and government toward building a just and poverty-free world. Active for over 20 years, and noted prominently in its on-line profile, MetaFund has supported 160 community development projects, invested $110 million dollars in rural communities, particularly under-resourced communities like Wewoka, and provided over $400 million in financing to communities in distressed areas.

MetaFund’s primary focus is on employment, housing, health, and child well-being. Utilizing the New Market Tax Credit Program enacted by Congress as part of the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000, and other forms of significant financing, MetaFund invests in struggling, low-income economies aiming to break the historical cycle of disinvestment.

MetaFund’s Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Tom Loy, has had a decades-long relationship with Tipton J. Burch, President and CEO of Security Bancshares and Security State Bank of Oklahoma, headquartered in Wewoka. Included in the many accomplishments noted in his professional biography, Loy serves on the board of directors and as chairman of the audit ommittee of First Bethany Bank, a community bank in Oklahoma City, as well as the board of directors for the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance. Loy served at Oklahoma City University as Executive Director of both the Graduate Banking School and the Bank Directors’ College, as well as visiting and adjunct professor of finance and banking.

In the early nineties, Loy was the Resident Banking Advisor for US Treasury Department/KPMG in Prague, Czech Republic, where he helped establish banking schools in Prague and Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia), taught banking courses, and advised bankers and government officials. He is the author of many published articles and opinion columns, and two banking industry books.

“For many of us, issues like poverty, child hunger, and unemployment can feel overwhelming and impossible to solve. But what if one determined community, like Wewoka, OK, set out to prove that it is possible to make these conditions rare, brief, and non-recurring. MetaFund would love to be a part of that effort,” Loy said.

Loy and Burch, collaborating and initially discussing the overall plight of rural Wewoka with local professionals involved in various improvement projects to include both city government and community-initiated restorations, came to the conclusion that a community-led renaissance was imperative for successful, future outcomes. Current improvement plans in the City of Wewoka are vast and often serve as competing interests. As one example of an overarching priority, the crucial need to update water infrastructure, considering that Wewoka’s water treatment facility and underground infrastructure is among the oldest in Oklahoma, is at the top of the list. Broadband Internet access, improving public school assets, local park expansions, city-wide walkability, historical business district enhancements, employment opportunities, affordable housing and the Lions Club SMART! Youth League and ballpark development campaign are all on Wewoka’s expansive strategic improvement menu.

“Our vision for Wewoka’s Transformational Task force goes beyond building a few homes and creating a few jobs,” Burch said. “ Our goal is to transform the lack of livable wage jobs to a plethora of jobs, to transform the lack of functional housing to dozens of new affordable homes under construction, to transform run down and boarded up buildings to vibrant businesses, to transform dilapidated school buildings to modern buildings with the latest technology for the teaching and development of Wewoka’s children and to transform a community that has a high level of poverty and has lost population to a community that is growing and prosperous. To convert a vision into actionable projects, it will take every citizen and every family working with us to make this dream a reality,” Burch said.

MetaFund’s Chief Impact Officer, Ed Long, along with Clarence Prevost III, Management Development Coordinator at Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, will facilitate the upcoming town hall meeting, along with the support of task force representatives from the City of Wewoka, Security State Bank of Oklahoma, Jearl Smart Foundation, Wewoka Chapter of Lions Clubs International, Wewoka Chapter of Rotary International, Wewoka Public

School District, Wewoka Chamber of Business and Industry, Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, First United Bank of Wewoka, as well as additional local business owners and church officials.

“Oklahoma communities are incredibly innovative and generate creative solutions to address local challenges. As a state, we must do a better job of bringing together public and private resources to support these solutions. MetaFund is excited to learn how we can support the community of Wewoka as they set goals and priorities,” Long said.

Prevost, who is encouraging everyone in Wewoka to let their voice be heard regardless of previous interest or past participation in community affairs, invites local citizens to join in and offer individual opinions as to how Wewoka can improve, grow and flourish.

“I intend to guide the town hall meeting in the direction of community,” Prevost said, “by asking the question, ‘if resources were not an issue, and you had one choice to choose, what is the one thing you would do for the community of Wewoka that would enhance the quality of life?’ It is to be a communal information meeting with an improved Wewoka as the agenda,” Prevost said.

“The Town Hall meeting will introduce the members of the Transformational Task Force and outline the goals and objectives of what we hope to accomplish with the help of ALL of the citizens of Wewoka,” said Burch. “We want the Transformational Task Force to be the rising tide that lifts and benefits ALL residents of Wewoka. In order to make this happen, we need as many residents as possible to attend the Town Hall meeting,” Burch said.

For additional information on the Wewoka Transformational Task Force Town Hall Meeting scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 17 contact Ed Long at (405) 922-7580 or Clarence Prevost III at (405) 306-5640. If you are unable to attend the meeting in person or due to Covid-19 concerns, please inquire about the optional ZOOM link to utilize from your computer or smartphone which will be made available on-line, to registered participants only.

News Release provided by Robin Brooks, Principal, Robin Brooks Influential, Inc.