MCALESTER, Okla. — McAlester citizens are wondering what the holdup is with the Youth Emergency Shelter’s expansion project, partly funded through taxpayer dollars.
2 News was in McAlester getting answers from city and shelter leaders.
“We're two months into it. [They] still haven't broke ground,” a McAlester man told elected officials at April 22’s City Council meeting. “This is a major problem.”
The Youth Emergency Shelter was supposed to break ground on an expansion project in March of this year.
“Our facility still looks just like a home,” YES assistant director Kristy Cusher told 2 News as she gave us a tour of the living quarters. “This whole wall is covered in handprints of the children that have come through.”
YES primarily provides emergency shelter to kids who can’t live in their homes for different reasons.
Executive Director Greg Contreras told 2 News they also “provide the shelter to our community parents who might need help with their kids.”
He recalled to us how the pandemic made them realize how much more room they needed to accommodate the need.
“During the Covid era, a lot of places and a lot of agencies didn't have anywhere to go to do group meetings because there just wasn't a facility that could accommodate them,” Contreras explained. “So, we built into the ARPA program a ventilation system, through our HVAC systems updating that so that it's more air purification to it.”
The more than $1.8 million federal grant will help them, especially with constructing a third building to serve multiple purposes. Those purposes include hosting an auxiliary office for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services’ Office of Juvenile Affairs or cooling stations during the summer.
However, the clock is ticking on completing the project. The grant money expires June 30, 2026.
“Here we are today, and it's affecting youth emergency shelter,” a McAlester man told city councilors, before hitting the podium with a rolled-up piece of paper between sentences. “These are kids, people. These are kids in need. These are abused kids. They need this project.”
After seeing those comments at that city council meeting, we reached out to city and shelter leaders to get more clarity on where things stand.
When asked if there have been any setbacks, Contreras replied, “Oh, yeah. There's been setbacks all along the way. One thing after another, that's what you look at when you're doing construction.”
He said the most recent setback involves the shelter wanting to keep the exact floor plan it proposed. However, this conflicts with local property statutes.
The city’s spokesperson sent us a statement saying they “understand that any delay is frustrating” and that “city staff are actively working with the shelter’s development team to address this issue as quickly and efficiently as possible while ensuring compliance with local zoning and safety regulations.”
“We've been working with the city for the last couple of days,” said Contreras. “They're doing an excellent job at helping us try to expedite this, and we think that it's been resolved to where we're gonna get through this process pretty quickly.”
“We love our community. They're a family,” he also said, regarding concerns from community members. “But rest assured, I think we have things under control.”
He said he expects everything will be completed before the June 2026 deadline.
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