Phase II of the Community Action Forum took place Friday, July 24th at the Embrace Hope facility on SW 11th ST, in Lawton.
The full story can be heard above, where I discuss the details of the 4-small groups that were structured according to the identified categories from the session's organizers.
The 4 groups and facilitators were:
Anderal Ward with LEGAL
Lisa Jansen-Rees with SOCIAL WORK
Dr. Amista Chambers with MEDICAL & BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Brenda Spencer-Ragland with PHSYICAL WELLBEING
Brenda's team was also spread out into each session to help with taking notes and providing feedback and information.
The Phase II group was more refined from the 100+ people who attended the first phase, each group had at least a dozen people comprised of service providers, nonprofits, local activists and advocates, and a few concerned citizens who wanted to stay involved.
After each group had time to meet and come up with three primary goals to focus on moving forward, we all met back in the chapel to discuss the main ideas and get on the same page.
Following the discussion, Spencer-Ragland invited everyone to a small lunch, right after she encouraged the group to attend the special City Council Meeting, (being held the following Monday, on July 27th at 6 p.m.)
The meeting is for the 30-day check-in on the Unhoused Initiatives and to ensure the members of our local government hear our concerns and potential solutions.
That special City Council Meeting was covered by KCCU and will be detailed in a separate article.
As many of us now know, the city had already began efforts to close the encampment, even before we hit that 30-day mark and well ahead of the original 60-days the community was promised, which concludes on Aug. 25th, 2026.
The City of Lawton was briefed by Salvation Army Captain, Bryan Brinlee where safety concerns were addressed and the overall encampment was deemed to need immediate intervention by the city, which is exactly what happened following that July 14th City Council meeting.
I have made an effort to breakdown this entire ongoing situation surrounding the Lawton unhoused population and the encampment/Tent City endeavor.
Please continue to follow KCCU's coverage of this complex situation, and come back for more as we strive to make sense of and keep following the ongoing Lawton Unhoused Initiatives.
