TULSA, Okla. — Six years after breaking ground on the Three Ponds Elderly Housing Community project, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation has officially opened it up.
The community includes 72 housing units complete with washer/dryer, handicap access and kitchen appliances.
WATCH: Muscogee Creek Nation opens Three Ponds elderly housing community
It also includes a community center with games, a seating area and a kitchen.
Press Secretary Jason Salsman explained some of the factors that contributed to a delayed completion, including the pandemic.
“We found out that this place was actually a wetland that had to be restored from what it was actually planned to be," he said.
“Then you also have to readjust for the budgets and everything like that on the economic side of it.”
Due to all of the adjustments, Salsman said the approvals had to go through different boards, which also contributed to an elongated process.
While he said the process was lengthy and at times difficult, he's just glad the community is open for tribal members to enjoy.
“My grandmother told me any time things got hard in my life or I felt like there were just walls being put up or challenges, it just meant there was a really, really good blessing on the other side of it," he said.
Rent is also based on income, which is one of the ways the Muscogee Creek Nation is trying to provide affordable housing.
He said there is already a waitlist for the housing community which has prompted the Muscogee Creek Nation to start working on creating and expanding elderly housing.
“That’s what we’re the most happiest about, is to be able to take some challenges, turn them around for good and to see it now. Now, we’re moving full steam ahead.”
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