Buffalo Nonprofits and Charities

I had such a horrific experience for the 1st time at the food pantry at 870 Tonawanda. At around 1pm this past Tuesday my child & I were physically pushed by a female volunteer. During that time I was trying to provide the front desk with identification & additional information which is required in order to receive emergency food assistance. Being that the inside of the building is so small their was barely any space to stand/walk & their is no reason for a volunteer to ever feel it is acceptable to walk up to a family & push them. The ignorant cruel woman began waving her hand in my face while yelling “what u wanna do!” At that point I told this lady that she was my elder & that I would never hit her. Then she yelled back “oh please do something!” I felt like this crazy lady really wanted to attack me.The gentleman that was working alongside of her was trying to pull her out of my face & back outside where she was suppose to be assisting the public & providing tickets. I was told to shut up or leave all because I asked a volunteer not to push me & my child. The other female volunteer mentioned how proud she was of my daughter & I for how we handled the situation. I thought to myself how could the person in charge allow this type of behavior to even happen right before their eyes? The volunteer was wearing a head scarf,lime green shirt,navy blue joggers,and a pair of Nike sneakers. I hope their is camera footage to prove that what I’m stating is a true fact! My family & I are hoping to find a better pantry at a safe location soon. This location had drunks & drug addicts arguing & screaming at each other in the parking lot. Better help/supervision is needed!

When Brittany started skating, she couldn’t balance on skates. She needed a walker to move on the ice. She now skates without any assistance and is in the advanced group. Brittany has been able to due a few duets in the ice show. She has encouraged some of her friends to join. Gliding stars has given my daughter confidence in herself.

Just a bad experience overall, very unorganized and unprofessional

After a nearly three-year journey with Adoption Star, I opened up their website and saw that my husband and I were removed from the list of waiting families. I immediately called the agency, and bounced voicemail to voicemail. We had just received an email from the agency one week ago stating how their numbers were improving… To which I replied that we had not had a potential profiling email or call from them in over 8 months, to which I didn’t receive a reply back for five days when I emailed again about being removed from the site.<br><br>Although I’m complaining here, I’ve been anything but a squeaky wheel to them and have had compassion and understanding while they went through restructuring and essentially a hold on any business. Everyone at the agency is extremely kind, passionate, and heart-felt in what they do, however, adoption requires attention to detail, which is lacking here.<br><br>We lost our family advocate in a mutiny of their staff, and they also replaced the director with the son of the founder of the agency. We think this is part of the reason our paperwork expired last fall with no word from the agency. While the new director is a passionate person with his heart in the right place, the transition for waiting families was a complete disaster and we basically lost our contact to the agency without even an email saying goodbye or giving us a new point of contact. <br><br>Note: Star replied to our Google review in 11 hours, but it took more than 5 days (3 business days) to get a response about why we were removed from the site. In that response, they never took ownership of any mistakes. They put the blame on us for being emotional about the adoption journey.<br><br>Look for an agency transparent about their placements monthly, versus three months into each new year. Look for an agency that doesn’t just have nice people on the phone, but an agency that actually delivers and doesn’t let clients’ paperwork expire. There is a significant amount of paperwork in adoption, and all agencies, including Star, always email you when something is about to be out of date. They dropped the ball on us, and there was zero recourse for us, sadly. <br><br>Save yourself the worry that they have another mutiny and lose their staff a second time and stop working for you in the process, or let your home study expire without notification and take you off their list for you to find out for yourself. Find a different agency to work with, please. There are so many out there.

Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network is a nonprofit partner of NeighborShare, Inc. We partner with effective, trustworthy organizations on the ground working with families and individuals, like BPPN. They identify one-time urgent needs that would otherwise go unmet and our donors meet those needs. Efficiency and trustworthiness are as essential to us and our donors as it is to you, so each nonprofit partner has to pass our initial vetting process as well as ongoing integrity checks. We are not only proud that BPPN meets those high standards, but we are even prouder of the incredible work they do every day to support our neighbors. <br>

<br>Alarm’s ringing!!! Ok, ok…Waking up. Another restful night but boy, those were some scary dreams, seemed so real! Another day out there…feels kind of warm…I hear a slight breeze…birds are sure awake! That faucet’s still dripping in the bathroom. Coffee sure smells good! Hope I can find that creamer. Time to listen to the Newspaper. Sure doesn’t sound good in Europe right now but thank God for the Bills! Gosh, I remember when I could see, when they had Kelly and Thurman and all those guys. I can still picture them all. I wonder if their uniforms today still look as good as they did. OK, coffee and news time! I don’t know what I’d do without this reading-radio. The folks at the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service are wonderful. I’ve never met them in person, but I sure know them! They’ve been my best friends for years. Can’t imagine life without them…hearing about the world; our hometown; all those wonderful books they read to us; even the weekend shopping ads and, unfortunately, but necessary, the obituaries. From the day my daughter surprised me with this wonderful new ‘friend,’ I’ve felt so much more alive! I AM part of this world! I DO care about what’s going on ‘out there!’ OF COURSE I love a good book! Just because I am blind doesn’t mean I don’t care about the same things you do! Before I had this reading radio, I was beyond lonely and most probably, looking back on those days, pretty depressed. My family and friends always seemed to have such great conversations about their lives and the world around them. I was uncomfortable. I didn’t know very much of which they spoke. They thought I was just a quiet person, but they didn’t know I was embarrassed not knowing very much about what they were talking about. Now I’m not only part of all those talks, I can actually start them up! They’ve all remarked on how much happier and more awake I seem now. They even think I look better! Can you believe listening to a simple radio can do so much for a life? I don’t even feel so blind anymore! It’s hard to explain but a huge part of my world that was missing – was dark – is back! I don’t even want to stay home alone as much as I did. I always felt so different around others. Not just because they were sighted, but because they knew more than me…they must have been smarter than me… So sad then, so much better now! My wish for everyone that has trouble reading, for any reason, is that the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service becomes their new best friend! They’ll even bring it right to your house. Just ask. And oh yeah, I found out recently you can now hear them on the internet…you don’t even need one of their special radios unless you want one. I am worried about the future though. I heard they really need financial help to keep going. If more people only knew how much they mean to us Listeners… I’m telling as many people as I can about them! Anyway, time for my coffee and my news. Hey! There’s that creamer…right next to my radio!!! <br>You can help our friend above, and all our other listeners, to rest assured of continued service from the Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service. We don’t charge for what we do, and we keep our expenses as low as possible. It costs money, however, to operate a studio, maintain broadcasting equipment, provide special radios, manage our wonderful volunteers, and spread the word throughout Western and Central New York; all with just four staff members! <br> <br>

This organization helped me when I couldn't help myself. Thanks to the people there, I was able to survive. The social worker helped me see my worth and helped me get the good job I have today. They truly care about the less fortunate.

17 years ago my son was born, being parents of 5 other children we thought we were prepared. Almost experts in the field. When he entered into our lives we were surprised to find out that he had Down Syndrome. We weren't sure what this would mean for him or our family. Bornhava came into our lives when he was 6 weeks old. They help us understand the challenges we faced. They worked with our son providing OT, PT, Speech, and teaching him all the things any pre-school would do but, with so much love and support not only for him but for us. They gave us strength, knowledge and I learned to advocate for him and us. He moved on to elementary school but, we have stayed in touch and when ever I have a question, concern or need to know, the staff happy answer my questions or make suggestions. <br>My son would not have grown up to be the man he is with out Bornhava.

I started as just a volunteer and worked my way up to a manager position. Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is the most genuine organization I have ever supported or worked for. They are always trying to improve themselves and the community!

Helpful staff, variety of human services available and community events are welcome to all

Back to Basics Outreach C.E.O. Pastor Giles helped save my life. The entire team has been such a blessing to me. I am forever greatful for the organization! I would recommend this organization to anyone in need.

I am a foster parent with Catholic Charities. We Choose Catholic Charites because out of all of the agencies, they put the child FIRST. They consider all factors when placing a child. They never put the child in a home where the child wouldn't thrive. Thank you Catholic Charities!

A beautiful place to worship with dutiful servants of Allah. Please attend!

Buffalo City Mission not only provides emergency shelter and nourishing meals to thousands of homeless men, women and children, but also has comprehensive recovery programs to help them rebuild stable, healthy, productive lives. Of particular note are the Turkey Express at Thanksgiving and the Hambone Express at Christmas, when the whole family can get involved in helping the less fortunate. This is a truly wonderful organization

This is a very trustworthy and responsible organization, I worked with them for a year and have friends who have been with them since they were old enough to do so. They teach your children responsibility through a strong chain of command and code of moral conduct. They teach physical/survival skills as well as social skills, and keep your children safe while doing it. You can expect members to learn extensive knowledge/skills involving anything from sailing/camping to firearm safety. <br> <br>They also have VERY STRICT parameters concerning leaders, always making sure the person in charge of the youth are responsible and trustworthy, so rest assured your kids will be in good hands.

Camp Cherith has been a part of my life since I was in second grade. I attended camp there as a camper every summer, and then continued on to work there every summer. I have been heavily effected by the camp staff that I've both experienced as a camper and worked with as staff. They are extremely giving and caring people. In addition, the site is beautiful and it is so great to be able to spend time there in God's creation. The friends and memories that I've made at camp will be life-long and I will cherish them dearly for the rest of my life!

The Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and WNY has been working diligently to establish Buffalo as a healthy community. Their work has encompassed many aspects of civic life in the supporting people and organizations in pursuit of this goal.

I have been working with Cephas/Peaceprints of Buffalo and Rochester, NY for over 40 years, going into Attica Prison every Wednesfor for about 35 of those years. The purpose of the prison visits is to work with men to help them understand what they love on the streets more than their freedom. For those prisoners who finally get it, they really work hard to come to grips with their addiction to prison. I can assure you their addiction is not the soft mattress in their cell or the great food in the prison mess hall. Many of the prisoners earn their GED's and college degrees while in prison, a fact that "burns" some tax payers because they feel that their tax monies are being wasted. I can assure you that your tax monies are not wasted. While studying, the prisoners are challenging their minds and becoming better citizens, which bodes well for them in prison, as well as when they get out. I don't think many in the general public understand that "throwing away the key" is more detrimental to our society than rehabilitation in the long run. Yes, it provides jobs, as prisons are a business, but it leaves many of the inmate's families struggling to survive. Cephas provides a conduit for those families. <br>

I lost my family during the pandemic. I have a back injury that makes it hard to work. I'm living at a disgusting homeless shelter. I feel like dying. I'm a children's book author specializing in education and entertainment for children and teens dealing with autism. I'm fighting so hard to stay alive, all alone. Thanks for donations at PayPal.me/ChrissyTeigenTeaches.

The Girl Scouts of Western NY has been a part of my life for more than 30 yrs. As a girl, I had many wonderful experiences which taught me more lessons than I realized at the time. I have been a troop leader since I finished as a registered girl and have been passing on that knowledge with the help of the GSWNY council. This council has many programs, for all ages and interests, keeping the interest of the girls peaked and challenged. They are very organized, always keeping the girls' safety in the forefront and making sure their leaders have the appropriate training. They are definitely deserving of the Non-Profits Top Award for 2012 ( and every year!).

This homeless shelter has a "homey", intimate feel with a lot of deception. The owner of the place makes it clear that you are not wanted there. This made me feel like trash, along with being next to mainly mentally ill or drug addicted guests. I think they need Lakeshore Homeless Services to make visits there because they are more extensive with helping people out of this situation. The real highlight of this experience is meeting the nice volunteers one of which included a Franciscan monk! <br> <br>

This is a historical monumental church. Do any one have some pictures of this church in and/or out during it's hay days and beyond. Plse contact alamsyedm@yahoo.com.

Just Buffalo is the only organization in Western New York that speaks for words. From programs that connect poets with children in our struggling schools, to the reading series Babel, which brings Nobel prize-winning authors to Buffalo, Just Buffalo keeps the power and magic of words alive. In an era and area of financial scarcity, Just Buffalo has found a way to do more with less, to collaborate with other organizations, and to somehow expand and strengthen its program offerings. <br> <br>Just Buffalo is the only way many of Buffalo's children learn about poetry; it is certainly the only way they can see their own work published. And without Just Buffalo, our neighbors never would have met, or perhaps read, Orhan Pamuk, or Chinua Achebe, or Salman Rushdie. That they could, and did, has changed this city forever. <br> <br>Too often, we Buffalonians suffer with failure and dreams deferred; Just Buffalo remains a beacon of hope. Its education programs have improved students' test scores, and its reading series have put Buffalo back on the literary map. As a former board president, and as an ardent supporter, I say with confidence that Just Buffalo is a model for non-profits everywhere. Simply put, Just Buffalo works. <br>

Locust Street Neighborhood Art classes is one of the most unique art centers in the country. It provides free year round prefessinally taugt art classes to studets who range from 4 years to adult. 2009 marks its 50th year in operation. Classes include painting, drawing, photography and clay. As a former student (1982-1991)I can testify that this organizational had an incredible impact on my education and career decisions. Without the support of Locust STreet Art I doubt that I would have pursued an MFA in painting or spent the past 15 years as an arts administrator. This place is a true treasure.