The UB 2020 Civic Engagement and Public Policy Initiative will be sponsoring the Buffalo Poverty Research Workshop II: Women and Homelessness on Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the St. Stanislaus Church Social Center.
Local presenters will address specific issues related to women, poverty, and homelessness. The forum will focus on research conducted in Western New York by the National Center on Homelessness, according to Suzanne Tomkins, a presenter at the event and clinical professor and director of the Women, Children, and Social Justice Clinic at UB's School of Law.
Presentations at the event will include a keynote address by Maureen Hayes, senior research associate at the National Center for Family Homelessness.
"Homelessness is not as visible in Buffalo as in some larger cities, but it is just as severe," said Sam Magavern, a clinical professor in UB's School of Law and co-director of the Partnership for the Public Good. "Over 2,000 people are homeless in our region on a given night, many of them women and children."
This workshop will give faculty and students a unique chance to hear about the most recent research and to meet with community groups and agencies that are on the front lines in the struggle to end homelessness, according to Magavern.
"In Buffalo, women are the dominant face of poverty. Two out of three families living in poverty in our community are women-headed households," said Monique Watts, director of development and marketing for the WNY Women's Fund. "With Western New York having some of the highest poverty rates in the nation and a steadily decreasing population, this issue is very pressing."
Suzanne Tomkins, a clinical professor and director of the Women, Children, and Social Justice Clinic at UB's School of Law, will be presenting on the experience of working with clinical students on behalf of residents at Carolyn's House.
Carolyn's House, which is located in the City of Niagara Falls, has 19 apartments and can support the housing needs of women with multiple children. The goal of Carolyn's House, a program of the YWCA of Niagara, is to provide the resources necessary to empower women and children to move from homelessness to independence and dignity, according to Kathleen A. Granchelli, CEO of the YWCA Niagara.
"The women and children who come to Carolyn's House from all over Western New York are homeless for a variety of reasons, which may include domestic violence, substance abuse, and poverty," Granchelli said. "However, the one common thread is certainly poverty."
Over half of the women and children in homeless shelters are there as the direct result of abuse suffered as a child, an adult, or both, according to Tomkins.
"It has been an enormously enriching experience to learn from these incredibly resourceful survivors," Tomkins said.
The on-site support systems at Carolyn's House attempt to combat poverty and dependence, and are also a study in community collaboration. The model of Carolyn's Houses, combining economic development strategies in a supported housing environment, is the subject of Granchelli's discussion at the workshop.
One of these programs includes a culinary institute for women and their children, sponsored by the John R. Oishei Foundation. Women who complete the culinary coursework can be hired by the Catering Crew, a full-service catering company located at Carolyn's House, or at the Airport Café at the Niagara Falls Airport.
The workshop, which will be held at 389 Peckham St. in Buffalo, is sponsored in partnership with the Homeless Alliance of Western New York, National Center for Family Homelessness, Partnership for the Public Good, and Western New York Service Learning Coalition. The workshop is co-sponsored by the UB Gender Institute and the WNY Women's Fund.
For more information, contact Megan Connelly at 716-852-4191 ext. 110.
Additional presentations include Ellen Grant, former Erie County Commissioner of Mental Heath; Lauren Breen, director of the Community Development Clinic; Teresa Miller, associate professor at UB's School of Law; Monique Watts, director of development at WNY Women's Fund; Kevin Blair, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Niagara University; William O'Connell, HUD Region II Community Planning and Development director and former executive director of the Homeless Alliance of WNY; Karen Carman, director of the Matt Urban HOPE Center; Jessica Walker, director of the Community Health Worker Network of Buffalo; and Kenneth Gaston, substance-abuse counselor of GROUP Ministries Inc.
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