MARCH 19, 2014
ChallengerCN.com
Challenger Community News •
Fruit Belt/ McCarley Gardens Public Hearing
WNY WNY AREA AREA BRIEFS BRIEFS Council Member Wyatt to Host Second Round of Community Empowerment Summits in University
“SIMON SEZ”: Nationally renowned motivational speaker and Buffalo native Simon T. Bailey will help launch Superintendent Pamela C. Brown’s Community Conversations and Listening Tour during a special FREE motivational event open to all on Saturday, March 22 from 9 – 11:30 a.m. at Waterfront Elementary School 95 4th St. An informational fair and continental breakfast will also be featured. The community is urged to attend!
In Case You Missed It… *BUFFALO RANKED TOPS IN AFFORDABILITY BY FORBES MAGAZINE: Buffalo Niagara’s low cost of living paid off when Forbes Magazine ranked Buffalo Number One among the nation’s most affordable U.S. cities. Following Buffalo on the Top 20 List, Syracuse ranked number 19. The magazine used data that included income, housing prices and everyday expenses. *SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE ARRESTED: Buffalo School Board Candidate Gizelle Stokes was arrested last week by NFTA police after running a stop sign at Glenwood and Michigan. After pulling her over authorities found an outstanding warrant for her on harassment charges as well as a small amount of marijuana in her car. Stokes, 31 is one of 12 candidates running for three at-large seats on the buffalo School Board in the May 6 election.
University District Council member Rasheed N.C. Wyatt has announced that the second round of Community Empowerment Summits will be held on Thursday, March 20 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Edward Saunders Community Center, 2776 Bailey Avenue. All block club presidents, business owners and University District residents are welcome and urged to attend. For more information call 851-5165.
Urban League Near the End of Annual Fund Campaign The Buffalo Urban League is in the final days of its first ever Annual Fund Campaign. The campaign, with its theme of “Moving Generations Forward”, has a goal of $100,000 and will end on March 31, 2014. “Presently, we are at approximately 76% of our goal,” said Mrs. Brenda W. McDuffie, President & CEO of the Buffalo Urban League. “We are calling on all of our neighbors, friends and community members to help us reach our goal. We need a strong show of support to continue empowering children and families for a better future,” said Mrs. McDuffie. To make a donation online, supporters can visit the Buffalo Urban League’s website at http://buffalourbanleague.org/donate-online/. Donations may also be sent to: Buffalo Urban League; 15 Genesee Street; Buffalo, NY 14203.
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Legislators (l-r) Miller-Williams, Grant and Burke.
Legislators Urge Social Services Department to Restore Funding for Substance Abuse Treatment Beds for Women in Recovery Erie County Legislators Betty Jean Grant, Barbara Miller Williams and Patrick Burke are very concerned about funding cuts to area women’s shelters that provide life-saving detox, mental health and substance abuse counseling. A resolution co-sponsored by the legislators has brought attention to the issue and important testimony before the Legislature’s Health & Human Service Committee. Here is the full text of the resolution they co-sponsored, which passed unanimously (10-1), “Ensuring the Availability of Inpatient Facilities for Women Seeking Substance Abuse Treatment and Mental Health Services”: WHEREAS, the availability of specialized, skilled and sheltered settings that provide substance-abuse treatment beds, detoxification facilities, and mental health services are essential and proven public policy; and WHEREAS, three residential treatment programs that help women overcome addiction and mental health difficulties, Canaan House (Walden Ave., Cheektowaga), New Life Residential Center (Memorial Dr., Buffalo), and Paradise House (Mills St., Buffalo) have announced that they will be forced to close on April 1, 2014 due to a significant reduction in funding from the Erie County Department of Social Services; and WHEREAS, such an announcement is troubling in that with Canaan House, New Life and Paradise House closing their doors, the community will be without a significant amount of inpatient beds at a time when any reduction in inpatient beds is too much to bear; and WHEREAS, New Life Residential Center announced that their closing is due to a slashing of the “shelter rate,” currently $667.00, and being reduced to $169.00, representing a 74.66% decrease in funding by the Department of Social Services; and WHEREAS, in order to transition more women into treatment, ensure a higher quality of life for these women, and at the same time reduce the expenditure of public tax dollars being spent in myriad ways when fewer treatment beds are available, Erie County must make certain that these community resources remain open, viable and strong so that more women can begin recovery, turn their lives around, secure meaningful employment and become productive members of our community; and WHEREAS, in light of an ever-increasing toll of hospitalizations and deaths attributed to drug overdoses throughout Erie County, particularly deaths caused by opioid overdoses in the form of prescription pills, heroin and increasingly, fentanyl; that this serious matter of the loss of life-saving inpatient treatment beds warrants a full public discussion in this Honorable Body’s Health & Human Services Committee. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Erie County Legislature declares that public policy Continued Page 12
Fruit Belt/ McCarley Gardens Housing Task Force to Present: “Four Communities, One Neighborhood,” a public hearing on the Medical Campus Community Benefits Agreement. What is a community benefits agreement? How will it affect your future residency? Will you have influence in shaping the agreement? Please join us for a panel discussion on Thursday March 20, at the Moot Center, 292 High Street, at 6:30p. Speakers include George K. Arthur, Duane Diggs, Voice Buffalo, Micaela Shapiro- Shellaby, Coalition for Economic Justice, and Josh Cevetti, UB Graduate Student Global Gender Studies. For more information contact Veronica Hemphill- Nichols at 716-390-5705.
St. Johns Lodge #16 to Host 49th Annual Charity Banquet And Ball Charley H. Fisher III 32 degrees Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge #16 Free and Accepted Masons, Prince Hall Affiliation, announces the 49th Annual Charity Banquet and Ball at the lodge will be held on Friday, March 28, from 7 until 10 p.m. at the New Golden Nugget, 2046 Fillmore Avenue. This year’s banquet and theme is “I Will Make you Fishers of Men,” and will utilize a major portion of the proceeds towards the Lodge’s new mentoring program for young African American males ages 8 to 18 and also for the Widow Fund for those widows of lodge members who have passed. Worshipful Master Fisher stated “…we are who we have been waiting for. Now is the time to step up and make a difference in the lives of our young men. We accept the challenge. We reach out to all of our young brothers to help them where they need help.”
Willie‘Hutch’Jones
Gala to “Roast” and Honor Willie ‘Hutch’ Jones Willie “Hutch” Jones will be “Roasted” and honored at a well deserved gala and dinner hosted by his namesake, the Willie Hutch Jones Educational and Sports Program on Sunday evening, March 23, from 6-9 p.m. in Templeton Landing, 2 Templeton Terrace. The event, which marks the 30th anniversary of the unique program, will feature food, fun and friends who will tell jokes at Jones’ expense during the organization’s first Roast Fundraising Event. Admission is $40 and proceeds will benefit the program, known as Team Hutch, which provides after school and summer activities in more than a dozen sports free of charge, in addition to educational programs and the performing arts. Jones, an educator and former NBA player who holds a Physical Education degree from Vanderbilt University, has worked at several Buffalo schools including PS 76, Buffalo Academy For The Visual And Performing Arts, Grover Cleveland, McKinley, Kensington and finally, Burgard. He started the Willie Hutch Jones Sports Educational and Sports Programs 30 years ago with the help of Attorney Leroi Johnson and the late Bernard Mitchell. The program’s overall mission is to help the youth be better prepared for employment and to be productive members of society. For information and tickets call 743-7490 or visit www.WHJSC.org