McMahon S212 Guest House Opens

The McMahon S212 Guest house has opened officially, with the new facilities ribbon cutting on Tuesday morning.

The event brought together MIGHT Community Development and resource center, city officials, including Mayor Stan Booker, and representatives from many other Lawton organizations.

“I was thinking about all the people that it took to make this dream become a reality.” Said Mayor Booker.

The dream for the McMahon S212 guest house began with Spencer Brown, who was unable to attend the opening. Brown’s father gave a speech, dedicated to his son and his dream.

“The story starts with Spencer as a junior in high school at Eisenhower,” said his father.

Spencer had gotten his first car and was giving a ride home to a friend, who was going to different homes most days. Once, Spencer’s father went along, and witnessed the teen walk into a boarded-up home.

“Dad, I don’t think he really has a place to stay,” said Spencer. Spencer’s father said that this was the beginning of him seeing a need.

The idea for the home to be called S212, is “sanctuary” and 212 is the boiling point of water.

“That’s where he got the idea that if everyone would give just an extra degree of effort, we can really create change.” Said Spencer’s father.

The mayor presented both Spencer Brown and Bernita Stone with a challenge coin, a show of appreciation for the two and their work in Lawton.

McMahon S212 is located at 714 SW 45th. The facility used to be a gymnasium but can now hold eight young men aged 18-24 who have aged out of the foster care system.

While the original goal was to house young men aged 12-17, Bernita Stone said, administrative changes within DHS required them to change focus.

Stone, during her speech, also gave many statistics about what life often is like for children who age out of the foster care system.

According to Stone, in 2021, 203 boys aged out of foster care in Oklahoma, and more than 26,000 children age out of the foster care system in the U.S. every year. 97 percent of them will enter chronic poverty, 20 percent were automatically homeless, and 40 percent will be homeless within 18 months of aging out of the foster care system.

That is why the shift was made from caring for teenage boys to caring for young adults at the facility, Stone said.

“We can’t wait for the boys to come,” said Sharayne Stone, Administrative Director for the McMahon S212 Guest House.

The facility will take in the boys, give them a place to stay, and teach them life skills as they begin their lives.

“We want them to be independent and self-sufficient, we’re going to make sure that they have all the life skills they need to go out into the world,” said Sharayne Stone.