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Tucked away on the old Springlake Amusement Park property, Valerie McMurry runs a trailblazing wellness program for Oklahoma City residents, the MetroTech Wellness Center. McMurry, who serves as the Director for Community Outreach and Wellness, has also sat on boards for organizations such as Lynn Institute, Salvation Army, A Chance to Change, the Adventure District, and Latino Community Development Agency. She considers herself a “dot connector” in the community.  

Valerie was born in Dubach, LA, which she described as “very, very small, poor, prejudiced town” where her family taught her the importance of hard work and community.  

“We raised everything ourselves,” she recalled. “We did all our own farming. We had our own cattle. We built everything. We built our treehouses, everything.” 

McMurry’s mother had a masters in math and her aunt had a masters in English. Valerie notes that while they did not have much more than the property and home they owned, they did have education and healthcare. McMurry attributes her personal successes to these support systems and recognizes that they are the pillars to a thriving and healthy community. 

Although Valerie spent her formative years in Dubach, there is no doubt she has made Oklahoma City her home.  

“I’ve been in Oklahoma City for the past 38 years,” McMurry said, explaining that she and her ex-husband had moved here from Lincoln, NE after he took a role as the Vice Chancellor for the State Regents. Her family sought out a good school system, which led them to Deer Creek.  Valerie’s children are now grown; one who is a private pilot and the other a regional vice president for Case and Western.  

While working at Oklahoma City Community College, McMurry often found herself at the same conferences with employees from CareerTech. 

“I thought, ‘wow, I love CareerTech.’ But I didn’t know much about CareerTech, because the tech centers here are extremely rich in resources,” she recalled. “When I learned about the people they serve and the programs they serve, I was like ‘that’s where I want to be. So, when I started working here, my first 10 years was strategic planning, leadership training, customized training.” 

But over the last 28 years at MetroTech, Valerie said she began noticing disparities- like the lack of services, sidewalks, health care access, and grocery stores- within the community which drove her to start the wellness program a decade into her tenure for her fellow employees.  

“I was like ‘I love it over here! It’s beautiful,” McMurry recalled. “Then I saw the stats of poor health. 73111 is one of the highest zip codes for poor health, along with a lot of other things, and so I decided that I wanted to do more.” 

Valerie went to her superintendent and told them of her dream to run a welness program for the community.  

“God placed it on my heart to start a wellness program.” McMurry told us.  

“I said, ‘look, I would love to start a wellness program, but not only JUST a wellness program…A wellness program that was holistic- mind, body, and spirit.”  

The program began with just serving MetroTech employees, but McMurry began to wonder how she could do more with the community. She saw the need for a wellness program that could serve the public and bridge the rising health gap. She began to walk the streets to talk with residents and pass out flyers. The result of McMurry’s efforts is programming that offers 18 classes a month. Currently they hold classes on Tai Chi, Pilates, yoga, line dancing Zumba, cardio, and more; Recently a self-defense program was added to the program.  

“They [Eastpoint] bring the groceries and focus on the recipes which is critical,” McMurry recounted about the MetroTech program, “Lynn brings in the food. The health department comes in and they teach on the plate diet, the importance of it if you’re borderline diabetic… They actually take all your blood work at the beginning and end of the program. The Department of Mental Health, they try to come in and partner with us on dealing with stress.” 

It was the work at MetroTech that led to Valerie’s move to Culbertson’s East Highland, one of Oklahoma City’s original Strong Neighborhoods Initiative communities.  

“I moved to Culbertson about four years ago,” said McMurry. “And when I’m telling you that, I moved there with a reason and a purpose. I am totally purpose driven. God had placed it on my heart.” 

McMurry sold her home in Deer Creek, moved into an apartment, and later built her own home on a lot that had been vacant for over a decade. Since then, McMurry has also become a small-scale developer, recently finishing a custom build, with three more in the works; it’s part of her model for revitalizing the area. 

Valerie recounted how a year before moving into Culbertson East Highland she worked to build a relationship with residents in the community.  

“Building trust is the most critical thing” she told us. McMurry emphasized the importance of trust building with families and children. That first year, she found a way to give each family and child items from their wish list.  

“It was just wonderful, building that rapport and trust…Now days, I can be gone, and if there is a car that is close by my house that shouldn’t be, I get a phone call… They’re more than happy to do that because it’s like family.” 

“When people come in, people [in the neighborhood] don’t trust them,” Valerie explained. “They’re here today, gone tomorrow. Trying to buy their land, or houses, or whatever, and they’re gone… Or they’re here with a purpose, but not a good purpose.” 

McMurry took a block-by-block approach. She started on her block, building relationships and providing food and services, before moving to other blocks in the neighborhood.  

She partnered with the Lynn Insitute to bring in much need recourses. They went from bringing fresh food in for neighbors on her block exclusively to feeding 150 seniors at the Jeltz and McGuire towers down the street. McMurry continued expanding, eventually starting a clothing giveaway as well.  

“You know, everybody deserves hope,” McMurry told us “But number one, if you don’t have food, you don’t have shelter, you know, if you don’t feel safe, that’s not much of a quality life for anyone. And it’s not fair.” 

Through her relationship with Lynn, Valerie secured the funding for a program called “One Block at a Time”. This program took a wraparound approach to neighborhood improvement, involving youth in lawn care services and exterior home repairs for neighbors in need. McMurry recognizes that this work is just a small piece in creating a healthy and thriving community and that it requires significant collaboration toward this shared goal.  

“A good friend of mine, Karen Waddell, always said, ‘everybody can’t do everything, but everybody can do something…So there may just be somebody who wants to pick up trash or someone can transport the kids, or someone who can come in and bring a service, or whatever that may be… It could even be mentorship or whatever it is to learn more about the needs of these different neighborhoods.” 

Valerie certainly does all that she can. From beautifying the medians along Lottie with a Public Parks and Spaces grant, to providing direct services in Culbertson’s East Highland, to a holistic wellness program at MetroTech, McMurry strives to be good neighbor.  

“Being bigger than self and utilizing the gifts and resources that they have to be able to be a blessing to someone else who does not, or whatever that may look like,” Valerie said. “That’s a good neighbor.”