Hope Center Newsletter: December 2014

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MAtt UrBAn HOPE CEntEr FUnDErS & PArtnErS

our missionThe Matt Urban Hope Center responds to the needs of the community by hosting family-focused events, informative workshops, free tax preparation, benefits screening, housing and job assistance. We assist individuals who are homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless, families suffering from domestic violence, loss of income, no utilities, and eviction. Additionally, we serve dinner five times per week which is open and free to the community.

infoMatt Urban Hope Center385 Paderewski DriveBuffalo, NY 14212(716) 893-7222 ext. 310Hope Center HoUrsMonday – Friday11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.Urban Dinerby FrienDs oF nigHt peopleDinner Hours:Monday – Friday3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.FooD pantry1st, 2nd & 3rd Tuesdays

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.Last Saturday

of every month10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

UpCoMing eVentsNights of ImpactFriDay, DeCeMber 19, 7:00 – 9:00 p.M.FriDay, JanUary 16, 7:00 – 9:00 p.M.FriDay, FebrUary 20, 7:00 – 9:00 p.M.

Please join us for a night of dancing, singing, rap-ping, poetry, and more! All activities and content are family-friendly, so bring the kids! Thank you to DJ Henri Tee for leading these fun-filled nights!

Holiday ExtravaganzatUesDay, DeCeMber 23, 2:00 – 5:00 p.M.

This exciting holiday party will be open to anyone in the community and will feature live music perfor-mances, a delicious holiday meal, craft projects for kids, pictures with Santa, holiday gifts for kids, and a special holiday opportunity for parents. You won’t want to miss it!

Health FareCoMing in JanUary!

A variety of agencies will be at the Hope Center to provide health and wellness information and services.

MLK, Jr. Celebration DinnerFriDay, JanUary 16, 3:00 – 5:00 p.M.

We will host a special dinner in the Urban Diner to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Please join us!

Valentine’s Day DinnerFriDay, FebrUary 13, 3:00 – 5:00 p.M.

We will host a special dinner in the Urban Diner to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Everyone is welcome!

Black History Month Celebration DinnerFriDay, FebrUary 27, 3:00 – 5:00 p.M.

We will host a special dinner in the Urban Diner to celebrate Black History Month. Please join us!

Matt Urban Hope Center385 paDerewski DriVe

893-7222, ext. 310

contentsA New Hope . . . . . . . . . . .25th Anniversary

Celebration . . . . . . . . . .3Hope Center Timeline . . .4Partner Schedule . . . . . . .6Project Homeless

Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Trunk or Treat . . . . . . . . . .6Staff Spotlight . . . . . . . . .7Thank You Corner . . . . . . .7

2 | h e l p t h e h o p e c e n t e r : v o l u n t e e r o r d o n a t e t o d a y ! 8 9 3 - 7 2 2 2 e x t . 3 1 0

Scores of supporters, volunteers and staff have worked to feed the Hope Center’s growth.

“It’s many people,” said Joy, the Hope Center’s director. “In the five years to grow the way we have it takes a Jason Flores, who is so passionate about outreach, and it takes a Sarah Gorry and a Sean Dougherty, who make the outreach program work so well. It takes a Tasha Moore bringing her talents to the diner and Tara Murray giving her energy and all of her other gifts. It takes so many other people who are here and many who were here but have moved on. It takes clients who have come back to help and are now part of the team. The list goes on. It’s because of all of them.”

The Hope Center is part of the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Ser-vices Center of WNY, which was founded in 1976 as the Polish Community Center of Buffalo. Karen said that center’s execu-tive director, Marlies Wesolowski, “was very, very enthusiastic and it would have been a much slower process and much harder without her enthusiastic support.”

Some of the people whose early involvement helped make the Hope Center what it is today were honored at a celebration in November. Dr. Diane Bessel, assistant professor of social work and undergraduate program director at Daemen College, pro-vided much of the research on which the Hope Center was based

T HAt rELAtIVELy MODESt HOPE initiative has grown in five years into a

multimillion-dollar human ser-vices agency. The Hope Center operates a variety of anti-poverty programs, including job train-ing, financial literacy education, housing for chronically homeless people and — in partnership with Friends of the Night People — a diner that serves dinner five afternoons each week. Last summer the Hope Center opened Hope House, an emergency shel-ter for women and their children, and in December it is set to open Hope Gardens, a permanent resi-dential facility for 20 women.

At its start, the Matt Urban Hope Center was meant to be a YWCA soup kitchen at the former Gibson Street Cafe. When that plan proved to be too far from the agency’s core mission, Joyelle Tedeschi and Karen Carman secured a grant from the City of Buffalo and launched a homeless outreach program on the East Side.

A New Hope

3L E A r n M O r E A t U r B A n C t r . O r g A n D F O L L O w U S @ M U H O P E C E n t E r |

and she taught the classes at the University at Buffalo’s School of Social Work that inspired Joy’s initial efforts. Dale Zuchlewski, a former member of the Buffalo Common Council and current executive director of the Home-less Alliance of WNY (HAWNY), and William O’Connell, the regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and past executive director of HAWNY, helped secure funding and introduced Joy and Karen to

many people whose support was vital. The John R. Oishei Foun-dation was recognized for its cru-cial financial contributions.

It is challenging to maintain an organization that has grown so quickly.

“Every now and then when you’re feeling defeated, you think of the phone calls from people thanking you for helping them change their lives,” Joy said. “Or you see a young man who was about to join a gang but now he’s coming to help in a community

clean-up. That makes it worth it. That gives you the strength to keep going and to say, ‘We’ll figure it out.’”

The staff are dedicated to fuel-ing the momentum that the Hope Center has generated in its first half-decade.

“Five years is really amazing,” Karen said. “But to say that we’ve succeeded, I don’t feel that. Homelessness has not been elimi-nated in Buffalo. Poverty has not been eliminated. There is so much left for us to do.”

R ESIDEntS FrOM tHE COMMUnIty, HOPE CEn-ter staff, volunteers, community leaders, and our loyal workshop providers gathered in the

Hope Center Gym to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Hope Center. On hand offering words of apprecia-tion and inspiration were; Hope Center Directors Joy Tedeschi and Karen Carman, Program Coordina-tor Tasha Moore, After School Program Coordina-tor Makeyda Hollie, Sam Radford from the District Parent Coordinating Council (DPCC) of the Buffalo Public Schools, Murray Holmes from the Stop The Violence Coalition, and Dwayne Ferguson from the Buffalo chapter of MAD DADS. During the event it was announced that basketball leagues for young men, ages 17-21, held from 7-9pm, are set to begin. This idea came from the monthly block club meetings that take place at the Hope Center at 11am on the second Satur-day of each month.

Performing for all of the members of the neighbor-hood in attendance was the Stop the Violence Elite Drill Team. As a token of appreciation for the commu-nity’s contribution towards making the Hope Center what it is today, there were bags of fresh produce, small appliances, clothing, and other items given away.

Hope Center staff and supporters gathered for the annual fundraiser and awards dinner at Pearl Street Grill. Awards were presented to individuals who were instrumental in starting the Hope Center, they were; Dale Zuchlewski, Executive Director of the Homeless Alliance of Western New York, Bill O’Connell from HUD, the John R. Oishei Foundation, Diane Bessel Matteson from Daemen College, and Renee Crowden was given an award for her volunteer work. Those in attendance also sponsored gifts of Hope for the upcoming Holiday Season.

It’s been a wonderful five years and we are excited for what the future holds!

5tH anniVersary Celebration


Hope HoUse opens – The transitional housing shelter for women and their children pro-vides 50 beds for those in immi-nent need of shelter, along with meals, case management, and aftercare.

oUtreaCH Vans – Thanks to generous supporters the Hope Center obtained vans for vari-ous activities such as doing out-reach, bringing individuals in off the street, transporting clients from our housing facilities to our events, and delivering much needed items such as furniture to those in need.

CoMing soon! – The Hope Center is moving to School 57 to expand services and programming.

2014Hope garDens – A 20 unit res-idence on Ruhland and Oberlin Streets, in East Buffalo provid-ing permanent housing for chron-ically homeless women (without any dependents). personal essentials pantry – Open Tuesday 1:30-4:30 pm; provides household and hygiene products to individuals under income guidelines that cannot be purchased with food stamps; items such as laundry detergent, trash bags, dish-soap, toothpaste, razors, etc.

school 57

Hope House

Hope CentertiMeline oF iMportant aCHieVeMentsMore than 3,000 clients served and 300 housed!

outreach vans

2013“oUt oF Darkness” portrait series art proJeCt by gary l. wolFe – The artwork showed real individuals from the street which provide a stark reminder of the humanity that the home-less population has and was featured at Artspace Buffalo and the Burtchfield Penny Art Center. (Pictured: Matt and Beth. Sadly, Beth passed away in September 2014; a harsh remind-er of the reality of homelessness.)

tHanksgiVing at parkView apartMents – The Matt Urban Diner begins delivering Thanksgiving Dinner to our senior residents on Lewis St.yoUtH prograM – Urban Christian Ministries and Stop the Violence partner to provide after-school programs and young adult programs.nigHt oF iMpaCt – Every third Friday members of the commu-nity to gather and perform for one another in an open-mic envi-ronment. laDies nigHt – Every Thursday night from 5-7pm, Tasha Moore hosts an event for females in the community to come together to share support, strength and hope.

“out of Darkness”

the Hope Center


2012east Hill boUtiqUe – The clothing closet opened to provide individuals seeking employment with professional clothing to wear as well as casual clothing to those in need.

siDewalk CHalk Contest – More than 200 people attended the contest, with 15 families from the community participating. Urban Diner begins serVing FiVe Days a week – Dinner is served Monday through Friday (16,000 meals were served).

2011HoMeless MeMorial – The Hope Center was chosen as the memorial gravesite dedicated to all those who died while homeless.

east Hill boutique

Homeless Memorial

Hope works – Hope Works continues to provide work for the formerly homeless, SNAP partici-pants, and anyone in the commu-nity who is seeking employment.HoUsing First – The depart-ment, staffed with case manag-ers, begins tackling the housing needs of the chronically home-less population. HUD defines a chronically homeless individu-als as an unaccompanied adult with a long term disability who has been homeless for one year or more, or has experienced four episodes of homelessness in a three year period. Hope Center co-founder Karen Carman takes on the role of acting Supervisor.tax preparation – Hope Center workers and members of partner agencies provide free tax preparation services to individuals with less than $50,000 in income. 180 individuals were served.

Urban Diner expanDs to FoUr Days per week – Dinner is served on four weekdays.

2010tHe Hope Center begins proViDing VarioUs serViCes anD worksHops tHroUgH-oUt tHe year – Case manage-ment, resume building, interview skills, domestic violence support groups, budgeting basics, under-standing a credit report, and a nutrition picnic.

Urban Diner – Partnering with Friends of the Night People. Dinner begins being served one day per week from 3-5pm by SNAP workers.

2009tHe Matt Urban Hope Center opens (aka polonia Hall) – The Polish Community Center of Buffalo (PCCB) was incorporated as a cultural/service organiza-tion. In the last 35 years, the center has grown into the multi-faceted human service organi-zation that exists today. It now operates seven sites and employs more than 70 people.

On November 11, 2000, the PCCB officially changed its name to the “Lt. Col. Matt Urban Human Services Center of West-ern New York” (AKA the Matt Urban Center). By taking the name of Lt. Col. Matt Urban, the PCCB paid honor to the most decorated war veteran in Ameri-can history, who was born and raised in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood. (Pictured: Joy Tedeschi and Karen Carman)

nutrition picnic


proJeCt HoMeless ConneCt

O CtOBEr 21, 2014 – MEMBErS of the Hope Center and out-reach departments partici-

pated in the annual Project Homeless Connect event at the Buffalo Conven-tion Center. Over 100 providers were on hand this year to offer a large One Stop Shop event for the homeless or near homeless population of Buffalo. This year, more than 600 individuals attended the event, taking advantage of the opportunity to do everything from getting screened for glaucoma and getting a free haircut, to find-ing housing search assistance, which is where the Matt Urban table met with more than 50 new clients during the course of the day. In addition to meeting with new clients and assess-ing their needs, the Hope Center staff used our vans to provide transporta-tion for clients coming from and going to the area shelters.

trUnk or treat

O CtOBEr 30, 2014 – Matt Urban staff, volunteers,

family and friends gathered on a brisk but sunny late afternoon dressed in costumes to host the 5th annual Halloween Trunk or Treat Event just outside of the Hope Center on Memorial Drive. 21 cars were backed up to the sidewalk along the driveway of the Central Terminal Train Station decorated as everything from mini cemeteries to an I-spy game with plenty of candy to go around. In addition to trick or treating, the families took in hayrides, got their faces painted, and made sidewalk chalk art.

There were cookies, hot cocoa,

apple-cider and even donut holes courtesy of Paula’s Donuts.

The annual Halloween celebra-tion was Tasha Moore’s first event in her new position as the Program Coordinator at the Hope Center. Tasha “was very happy with the turnout and support this year. We had 20 volunteers and 300 people total attend.”

agenCy naMe sCHeDUle FoCUs area

Belmont Housing 3rD tUesDay 3:30-4:30 Housing Search Education

Buffalo Employment and Training Center last tHUrsDay 12:00-2:00 Employment and Job Training

Buffalo Public Schools weDnesDays 2:00-4:00 GED Preparation Programs

Community Access Services 3rD tHUrsDay 3:00-4:30 HIV Testing and Services

Consumer Credit Counseling Services 3rD tHUrsDay 3:00-4:00 Credit Counseling

Cornell University Cooperative Extension 3rD & 4tH tUesDays 3:00-5:00 Health & Nutrition

Fidelis Care 2nD & 4tH tHUrsDay 2:30-4:30 Health Insurance

GBUAHN tUesDays 2:00-3:30 Health Insurance and Services

Housing Opportunities Made Equal 4tH MonDay 3:00-4:00 Housing Discrimination Education

Planned Parenthood of WNY 2nD weDnesDays 3:00-5:00 Reproductive Health Services

UB Educational Opportunity Center 1st tUesDay 12:30-2:30 Adult Education and Training Programs

Wellcare FriDays 3:00-4:30 Health Insurance

Partner Agencies Schedule T HESE AgEnCIES VISIt tHE HOPE CEntEr On

a regular basis and provide free services. Take advantage of these programs while

they are in your neighborhood!


S ArAH gOrry AnD HEr HOMELESS OUtrEACH colleagues go out in nice weather and the worst, in daylight and the dark. They’d make great

mail carriers, if they could get used to the convenience of house numbers and mailboxes.

Sarah joined the Hope Center’s staff in August, after working with the Corporation for National & Community Service (AmeriCorps). She graduated from Appalachian State University in North Caro-lina, where she participated in a program studying in Uganda. Her experiences have helped her appreciate how Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs applies to the work she is doing. He suggested that people’s basic needs (for food, water, clothing and shelter) have to be satisfied before we can live the full lives of which we are capable.

“It’s important to know that the people we work with are at different stages,” Sarah said. “Some of them want help immediately, some can use it just a little at a time and some need to be left on their own for a while first. It’s about learning from people when they tell us about their lives. As long as you treat someone like a human being and be respectful of them, they’re going to take you seriously and be appreciative.”

T HE HOPE CEntEr wOULD LIkE tO tHAnk ALL OF tHE StAFF, VOLUntEErS, members of the community, friends and neighbors for all that we’ve been able to accomplish these past five years! In October, Paula’s Donuts donated

food for our annual Trunk-or-Treat, which was a great success again this year. Leadership Buffalo spent their time and efforts giving the Hope Center lobby a much needed makeover by painting the walls and reorganizing the furniture and space. Thank you! Special thanks to Haley Marketing Group for providing Thanksgiving dinner for over 100 members of the community. Thank you very much for the delicious food!

staFF spotligHt Homeless people often are forced to move from their preferred spots. Outreach workers worry when they lose track of someone for a while.

“The times I feel like I am making a difference dur-ing outreach are when I can find people that I haven’t seen for a while and hear that they are doing well,” Sarah said. “It is such a happy moment to realize, ‘Okay, that person is okay and they accomplished so much since I last saw them.’ It also is great when they ask for something that amazing people have donated to us like blankets, water, or toiletries and I can give it to them.”

The Hope Center works in partnership with others, including teams from Lake Shore Behavioral Health, Inc. and the faith-based Grace Point Alliance.

“Having Grace Point and Lake Shore there with us doing outreach means we can cover more area, make more connections and ultimately help more people,” Sarah said. “We all have the same mission: build relationships with individuals on the streets. We meet twice a month and consistently contact each other. If I am having trouble finding a client or connecting with them, I know I can reach out to those other agencies and chances are they know where they are and have updates to share. It truly is a team effort.”

One of the men the teams have been reaching out to for months has been intermittently receptive to their offers of help. But outside the downtown bus station on a night in December, Roderick, wanted nothing to do with Sarah even though she had good news for him about a medical device for which he’s been waiting and about housing for which he qualifies. The next morning he was more ready to listen.

“She kind of makes it seem like she cares, for real,” Roderick said of Sarah. “That feels good.”

When it’s time to move on from the Hope Center, Sarah plans to earn her master’s degree and probably work in a larger city. She’s plans to do work similar to what she does at the Center.

“I’d like to have the kind of team we have here at Matt Urban, who are wonderful because you never know what you’re going to come across when you go out to help,” Sarah said. “I want to identify the gaps in service and find where I can do the most good.”

Thank You Corner

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDBUFFALO, NYPERMIT #1180

Help the Hope Center: volunteer or donate today! Call 893-7222 ext. 310

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Hope Center Newsletter: December 2014

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