Boomtown

2101 Interstate 35 Frontage Road Moore, OK 73160

10731 S. Western Oklahoma City, OK 73170

December brings the close of one year and the anticipation of a year yet to be. This month is filled with holidays such as Hanukkah and Christmas. Both holidays have stories rooted in the symbolism of hope and light in challenging times.

The Christmas story has an overriding message of hope in the birth of Jesus Christ. His life shows us the way of love and how to be a light in the darkness. His teachings reveal a trust and belief in something greater than ourselves.

Hanukkah is celebrated over eight days and nights in December. The celebration focuses on how the Jewish people reclaimed their temple, found a small cruse of oil, and used it to light a menorah. There was only enough oil for one night, yet the holy light miraculously burned for eight days.

As we prepare to transition from 2021 to 2022, let us not just “wish” that this coming year will be better than the last, but let us live in a season of hope. Why the difference? Wishing is passive and implies you have little impact on an outcome. Hope is a verb; it is a vision of what can be and pursuing it.

Dr. Chan Hellman, a Professor & Founding Director of the HOPE Research Center at the University of Oklahoma, defines hope as “the belief that your future will be better than today, and that you have the power to make it so.”

Through his decades of research on the science of hope, Hellman has found that hope is much more than wishful thinking. Hope is a cognition, not an emotion, it’s measurable, and it can be taught. Science tells us that it is the most predictive indicator of well-being in a person’s life.

How do you foster hope in your life? Hellman, along with his co-author Casey Gwynn in their book Hope Rising: How the Science of Hope Can Change Your Life share three simple markers that must be present in our pursuit of hope.

First, we must have a goal in mind that we value and want to achieve.

Then, we must define and develop pathways or a mental roadmap of possible ways to get to our desired destination.

And finally, willpower, the sustained motivation on the path to your pursuit.

Here is how the process might look in application. Write down your goal in as much detail as possible. It may be helpful to choose a goal for a specific area of your life, such as family, work, education, health, etc. Next, identify as many potential pathways that can help you reach your goal. Then, identify those things that could be barriers to overcome as you work toward your goal. Think about a time that you overcame a challenge to achieve the goal you desired.

What is your vision of hope for 2022? What steps will you take toward a future that will be better than today?

Established in 1900, First United has more than Established in 1900, First United has more than 85 bank, mortgage, and insurance locations throughout Oklahoma and Texas. It is one of the largest, well-capitalized banking organizations in the Southwest, with more than $10 billion in assets. It is among the largest privately held community banking organizations in the United States. First United provides a full range of financial services, including banking, mortgage, insurance, and investment products and services, with a primary focus to inspire and empower others to Spend Life Wisely®. Learn more at FirstUnitedBank.com. Member FDIC

For more than 50 years, The Virtue Center has played a pivotal role in helping clients who struggle with addiction, trauma, and mental illness. Now the Cleveland County non-profit is building a brand-new facility that is specially designed for its work. Virtue Center Executive Director Teresa Collado says the new building will be a game-changer for the work done by the non-profit.

“First of all, the new building is ‘trauma-informed design,” said Collado. “There’s lots of light, lots of open space, and not just space, but a safer-feeling space for our clients. It’s radically different than our current building, which is a former church building.”

Collado says that while the current building has served the needs of The Virtue Center well, it simply wasn’t built for the purposes for which it was being used.

“We’ve been blessed by and are so very grateful for the current building,” said Collado. “You know, there’s such a stigma associated with substance addiction, gambling addiction, and mental health issues that we want our new building to represent their recovery and where they’re going, not where they’re coming from.”

The Virtue Center was originally called the Norman Alcohol Information Center. Dick Virtue was a successful businessman in Norman who lost everything, including his family and children, because of alcoholism. Virtue dedicated his life in recovery to helping fellow alcoholics, which included those struggling with other addictions. Through that process, Virtue was able to rebuild his family.

Virtue was a lay minister in the Episcopal Church, and in 2017 the non-profit decided to honor his legacy by renaming the non-profit to The Virtue Center. The organization will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2022.

“The Virtue Center is an outpatient treatment center,” said Collado. “We offer a range of services, including individual therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, group therapy, case management, and peer recovery. We also have a paraprofessional who’s in recovery himself, and he works with people getting them connected in the community of recovery outside our doors.”

Collado says the Virtue Center also works hard to include the whole family in the treatment process. The new facility will have more family-friendly spaces and include a playroom off the reception area so that people don’t have to worry about bringing their children with them.

“Family members don’t need to have the disease of addiction themselves to be profoundly impacted by it,” said Collado. “So, we treat them as well because of the way an addict’s actions impact the entire family.”

The pandemic has added stress to so many lives, and Collado says she and her staff are seeing the repercussions of that stress over the last year and a half.

“We’re seeing the severity increase, and that’s scary because addiction is progressive and chronic,” said Collado. “So, we’re seeing a lot of trauma severity and relapses with people who have been steady in their recovery, but not the pandemic has been too much for them, and they’ve relapsed.”

The Virtue Center serves clients across the area, including Cleveland, Garvin, McClain, and Grady County. Collado says they even occasionally get clients from Oklahoma County and as far away as Potawatomi County. Their capital campaign for the new building is still underway, and there is always a need for ongoing support. To find out more about The Virtue Center, visit www.thevirtuecenter.org or call 405-321-0022.