Social Justice Concerns sites available:
Bissonette House for Ex-Offenders: Hope Prison Ministries
335 Grider Street
Buffalo, NY 14215
Contact: Tom Pinieksi, House Director
892-8224
www.hopeofbuffalo.org
Days: vary
Times: vary
Service opportunities: All opportunities have been filled
Central Terminal
495 Paderewski Drive
Buffalo, NY 14212
Contact: Bernadette Majewski
812-3342
Email: majewskib@canisius.edu
Website: http://www.buffalocentralterminal.org
Days: vary
Times: vary
Service opportunities: Grant research and application, product and service research. Other opportunities are available when weather is warm.
Character Academy
1816 Jefferson (by Sycamore and Broadway)
Buffalo, NY 14208
Contact: Yvette Suarez
Phone:578-6050
E-mail: bestvetever@yahoo.com
Days: 3rd Saturday of the Month
Times: 9am - 3pm
Service opportunities: The Program is about character development. You will be working with inner-city students who are "at risk". Students’ ages range from 7 to 12 years. Service opportunities include: reading to students, playing board games, health nutrition (mentioning programming). Education students preferred, but other are welcome to participate.
El Buen Amigo Fair Trade Store
114 Elmwood Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14201
Contact: Santiago Masferrer (or his replacement)
Phone: 885-6343
Email: lacanewyork@yahoo.com
Website: ElBuenAmigo.net
Store hours: Monday-Saturday from 11am-7pm. Sunday from Noon-5pm
Service opportunity: Working in the store.
El Buen Amigo is a non-profit Fair Trade store offering both art and imported goods from Central and South American fair trade co-operatives. El Buen Amigo ensures that the people who make these goods get a fair price for their goods. 100% of proceeds from the El Buen Amigo store is put towards eradicating poverty and improving the quality of life for the people of Latin America.
Gerard Place: Transitional Housing For Single Parent Families
2515 Bailey Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14215
Contact: Karen Kasperek, life skills educator/case manager
716-897-9948 ext. 112
kkgerardplace@aol.com
Days: Tuesday through Thursday
Times: 3-5 pm
Service opportunities: Job training, life books (help residents with scrap booking), physical activity or the arts. Participation in a Life Skills Program gives volunteers the opportunity to make life skills presentations to residents on a variety of topics including: interview preparation, budgeting, financial planning, or personal enrichment. Tutoring and story time with children are also available.
Hispanics United of Buffal Advocacy for Disadvantaged Latinos
254 Virginia
Buffalo, NY 14201
First Contact: Donna Medina, Volunteer coordinator
Phone: 856-7110 x105
Email: dmedina@hubwny.com
Second Contact: Juan Torres, Family Preservation Director
Phone: 856-7110 x106
Fax: 856-9617
Email: jtorres@hubwny.com
Third Contact: Lourdes Iglesias
Phone: 716-856-7110
Days:Monday-Friday
Times: 8:30 am- 5:00 pm.
Service opportunities: Domestic Violence Services: linkage with health, legal and emergency shelter assistance, anger management classes, education to prevent violence and promote healthy relationships.
Outreach and Education: to prevent substance abuse and the spread of
HIV/AIDS.
Breast Cancer Education and Screening: referrals to mammograms for low
income women, education and information on examinations and the
importance of detecting breast cancer.
Senior Services: on-site weekly lunches and recreation, informational
workshops. Senior Citizen center has daily activities from 7:30am to
4:30pm.
Youth Services: court advocacy/alternatives to incarceration, tutoring,
mentoring, employment preparation and job placement assistance, after
school program for 13-18 years of age, youth anger management classes.
Additional volunteer opportunities exist for marketing, accounting, and digital media arts students.
TRY Program: A Residential Program for Young Women
228 Brinkman Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14211
Contact: Sr. Janet DiPasquale, Director
Phone: 892-2814
Fax: 891-4408
Email: tryinfo@adelphia.net
Website: www.tryprogram.org
TRY is a transitional housing program for women between the ages of 16 and 25 which offers a loving and supportive structured environment to women who are homeless and who have suffered from abuse, violence and victimization.
Service opportunities: Tutoring, preparing small presentations on life skill topics such as anger management, self esteem, personal budgeting and other independent life skills. Consult the director to see what you may do.
Valley Community Center
93 Leddy St.
Buffalo, NY 14210
Contact: Brian Pilarski
Phone: 716-823-4707 ext. 4
Email: brian.pilarski@us.army.mil
This is a non-profit, multi-faceted human service agency, providing services and programs to the residents of the Buffalo River Community in southeast Buffalo and beyond. The programs include child care, senior citizen services and programs, family support services, and youth services and programs.
Service opportunites: “Striving for Excellence” After School Program: Monday –Friday from 2:30-5:30pm. The students are from grades K-8.
This is a comprehensive youth program based upon the 40 Developmental Assets with activities including homework help, one on one tutoring, computer instruction, physical education, art classes, science program, a meal program field trips, family events, prevention trainings and workshops.
Weed and Seed
"Buffalo Weed and Seed exists to improve the quality of life, promote economic development and create safe environments by fostering citizen participation and developing public/private resources and community assets."
65 Niagara Square, 218 City Hall
Buffalo, New York 14202
Contact: Antwan K. Diggs Sr., Program Coordinator
Phone:716-851-4281
Email: adiggs@city-buffalo.com
Days: Flexible
Time: Flexible
Service Opportunities: Current East Side Havens include: Lt. COl. Matt Urban Services Center of WNY (Polonia Youth Hall). Ellicott-Masten Family YMCA, CRUCIAL Human Services, the Delavan-Grider Community Center, International League of Muslim Women, Saint Columba/Brigid Teen Center and There's None Like You Family Community Outreach. Some of the types of programs available are: Academic courses and tutoring, Mentoring, Prevention education, Dispute resolution and mediation: youth forums; mediation training; and youth and family counseling, Anti-gang education and training, Performance and applied arts.
West Side Community Collaborative: Rebuilding Neighborhoods Block by Block
382 Massachusetts Ave.
Buffalo, NY 14213
716 603 9762
Contact: Harvey Garrett
Email:hgarrett@adelphia.net
Days: vary
Times: vary
Service Opportunities: Community organizing, business and economic development, communications, landscape beautification, diversity, youth, and housing.
WNY Peace Center
2123 Bailey Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14211-2056
Contact: Irene Morrison
morrmi26@gmail.com
716-894-2013
Website: http://wnypeace.org/about/home.php
Days: varies
Times: varies
Duties Include: Organizing around ending local violence: canvassing and surveying in the community, especially important in light of recent violence. Designing a civil disobedience training, where activists can learn about their legal rights when practicing civil disobedience and direct action. Immigration support: we currently hold periodic trainings on how to support immigrants facing trial in the city where the upstate immigration court is housed. We are seeking to raise the court’s asylum rate, as it is one of the lowest in the country.
Women's and Children's Hospital (Kaleida Health)
219 Bryant Street
Buffalo, NY 14222
Contact: Marcia Sarkin and Jennifer Flood
716-878-1238(Marcia) or 716-878-7241(Jennifer)
Email First Contantact:msarkin@kaleidahealth.org
Email Second Contact:jflood@kaleidahealth.org
Days: vary
Times: 40 Hours are required to actually work in the particular hospital situations because of training time and expenses involved in processing. Before beginning, student are expected to commit to 3-4 hours per session. It is also required that a students commits to not less than 20 hours of service. An application, interview, physical exam form, and proof of immunity to Rubella and Rubeola and a 2-part skin test for TB must be completed before volunteering can begin. Volunteers must attend an orientation to the Kaleida Health System.
Service opportunities: 20 hours or less: Students may be involved in clerical, staffing the information desk and waiting room areas, child life (play therapy), word processing, patient/visitors assistance, and working in the patient/medical libraries. If students assist with fund raising efforts they may also have some time to spend in a more “medical” situation at the discretion of the coordinator. Other opportunities exist in a variety of medical areas and situations.
Women for Human Rights and Dignity (WHRD) m
2278 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14214
Contact: Constance Eve, Founder/Chairperson of the Board of Directors
716-831-9821
whrd2278@aol.com
Days: vary
Times: Vary
Service opportunities: Accompany social worker and client to courtroom, can assist in class training, and visits to prisons. Thursday evening theme-based programs (6:00PM-9:00PM) can be created with a specific goal in mind.