Summit Offers Hope & Healing For Muskogee Citizens, First Responders After 2 Traumatic Situations

After Muskogee citizens and first responders went through two traumatic situations - a mass shooting and a fatal shooting involving teenagers and officers - they now have a chance to heal together.

The Hope and Healing Summit was held Friday at the Muskogee Civic Center for law enforcement and the entire community. 

"The trauma that our officers have had to see through the past several months, for the past year have been kind of unprecedented," said Muskogee Police Chief Johnny Teehee.

He said his officers have had to see things they never thought they would see in a small town.

"The number one killer of law-enforcement over the years. You have to do something to be able to help officers, help them cope with the trauma that they're dealing with," Teehee added.

The Hope and Healing Summit is the first of its kind to be brought to Muskogee. Several Muskogee groups put on the event, leading nearly 300 people in big and small groups.

"Our goal is to really teach them some soft styles like skills they can implement that are pretty easy to implement," said Kids Space Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Haley Poffel. 

Poffel and Chelsea Brown with Restoration Behavioral Health put on the summit. Their hope is to help the community heal.

"Everybody was pretty rocked by what it taken place in 2020 in the first part of 2021 so that was sort of the origin story of those working towards the summit," Brown said. 

"With understanding, implementing these principles, we're just going to have a better world in a kinder, more compassionate community,” Poffel said. “And through hope and healing is resilience.”

Now, they plan to do this every year. 

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