TULSA: OK — A former Route 66 hotel is getting a face lift.
Wings of Freedom is transforming the former, Saratoga Motor Hotel along 11th street and Highway 169 into a sober living facility.
Pastor Dixie Pebworth is the director for Wings of Freedom, a sober living program designed to help people break the cycles of addiction, incarceration and homelessness.
He says he knows firsthand what it’s like to experience restoration.
'My story is that I was sentenced to 80 years in 1987. I was a drug addict, and I was a drug dealer and God transformed my life. I did do 6 years, 3 months and 17 days in prison,” said Pebworth.
He says during his time in prison, God changed his life and gave him a new purpose.
“God transformed my life and so I love helping others and helping the community and help restore lives,” said Pebworth.
In June of 2020, his organization, Wings of Freedom purchased the old Saratoga Motor Hotel along Route 66.
'We're creating a sober center, and this will be for women, women with children and married couples with children. The first phase is phase one and that's the horseshoe you see behind me, and it will have 86 rooms when we are done. We are taking the motel rooms and turning them into efficiency's and trying to make them affordable for low-income housing,” said Pebworth.
Pebworth says they hope to have 29 rooms on the west side of the building transformed into efficiency units by Christmas.
Loy Burton is a Wings of Freedom graduate, and says the program transformed his life as a drug addict.
"It's a 6-month program. I came from this street out here homeless, and drug addicted most of my life, over 40 years of my life and when I came here it was life changing,” said Burton.
Burton is now giving back by helping to restore the property to a place of healing for others.
"I've never done anything worthwhile, never, but this is worthwhile. I'm giving back to the community and we're giving the community hope,” said Burton.
Wings of Freedom still needs roughly a million dollars to complete the entire project.
If you would like to donate, you can visit www.LoveWingsofFreedom.com.
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