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April 20, 2023Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City announced a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sanctuary Women’s Development Center to be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 2, at the site location at 2133 S.W. 11 Street in Oklahoma City. The event is open to the public.
The event will begin with a commemoration and blessing of the site by Archbishop Paul S. Coakley. Other speakers include Executive Director of Catholic Charities Patrick Raglow and Catholic Charities board member Mike Milligan. Campaign donors, prior Sanctuary clients and community dignitaries will be present for the ceremony.
Patrick Raglow expressed excitement and gratitude about the new day shelter.
“We have served women and children for 14 years in a building that has been falling apart. In that time, we’ve seen more than 1,000 women achieve stable housing. We are thrilled to build on that legacy with the Sanctuary Capital Campaign which will increase the ability to provide showers, laundry, connection, training and best of all the transformative power of case management to an even greater number of women in need,” Raglow said.
The Catholic Charities Board of Directors unanimously approved a $5 million capital campaign to replace the existing structure with a new facility to serve more women and children experiencing homelessness. Any excess funds raised will be used in an endowment to ensure beautification and maintenance of the facility and to support operational needs.
Mass Architects created the architectural plans to mimic the design of the original mission church structure. Existing elements will be incorporated into the new structure including the cornerstone, the bell tower, the apex cross and more. Construction will be done by Miller-Tippins and costs are estimated at $5 million. Demolition will start in mid-May. The 9,000-square-foot day shelter is expected to be completed in 2023.
In order to speed construction and minimize expenses, Catholic Charities plans to relocate services currently provided at Sanctuary to the main service location on Classen Boulevard. Clients will still have access to showers, laundry, computers and case management.
“It will be a bit of a disruption to our main location,” Raglow said, “but more importantly it will still be a ‘sanctuary’ to the ladies and children we serve.”
Photo: A rendering of the new Catholic Charities Sanctuary Women’s Development Center. Photo provided.
