Alongside the Affordable Housing Clinic, second and third year students at UB's School of Law have spent the past two semesters applying their textbook knowledge to the real world by helping to make affordable housing a possibility for the homeless in Buffalo.
As a result of their efforts, the Cornerstone Manor, a shelter that will be able to house 122 women and children, will open in April.
George Hezel, a clinical law professor in UB's School of Law, is involved with the Affordable Housing Clinic, a local non-profit organization that helps non-profit organizations give shelter to the homeless.
"This is an ongoing educational process which allows students to earn credits while assisting a non-profit organization. We are attempting, through practical experience, to give them useful skills in the practice of law," he said.
According to Hezel, the students learn how lawyers deal with complex situations in the community such as homelessness.
"This is real-life law. These students are learning what the textbooks cannot relay to them," said Hezel.
There are 12 to 15 students participating in the project, which is considered an educational effort as well as a community outreach effort, Hezel said.
The students have been responsible for helping the Affordable Housing Clinic secure finances in order to create housing for homeless people in the Buffalo community.
"The students apply for funds from the State of New York, the federal government for tax credits, and to City Hall in order to ensure that this project will have the finances necessary to be a success," said Hezel.
According to Hezel, the experience has allowed the students to gain hands-on training and apply their education in a proactive way. The students have had to work and meet with a range of professionals in order to ensure the shelter was built and can be supported financially in future years.
"They are learning about what lawyers really do, not what is shown on those T.V. programs about lawyers," he said. "They are learning about the roll-up-your-sleeve, get-the-work-done types of lawyers."
The shelter will provide a wide range of services for its occupants. There is a dining area where three meals will be served every day, and a medical clinic where local doctors from the area will volunteer their time to help.
There will also be educational services for the young children in the shelter, job counseling for older people, and many similar programs to help people get their lives together.
The students have done all of the work necessary to make this project a success. Along with receiving credits, according to some, they have gained other personal rewards.
"I've been involved in this project for two semesters and the good thing about it is that unlike the sterile environment of a classroom, we get the hands-on effect," said Joseph Endres, a third year law student. "It is very rewarding to be able to see positive effects take place in economically declined areas."
Endres said that because he was born in Buffalo and plans to stay and practice law here, it is satisfying that the clinic is a way for the public to see how the law can positively benefit the community.
He added that it has been rewarding to think of the lives this project will affect.
"I think, for me, the most important part about this was that most people have a negative opinion about lawyers, and I think this shelter will show how much good the law and lawyers can do for a community," said Endres.
Hezel and his students say the project has been a success, and that the shelter will be a useful institution within the Buffalo community.
"I am very proud of my students and the work they have done. They have acted very professionally and have done all of the work in order to make this shelter a success," said Hezel. "We have enough baseball fields, football fields, and hockey rinks around here. It is time for us to get into building something for the neediest people."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
