Child and Family Services will embark on a landmark construction project thanks
to a financial boost from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation. A $100,000 grant was awarded to Child and Family Services through
the New York State Environmental Protection Fund to preserve portions of the landmark
English Tudor mansion and prevent further deterioration to one of Buffalo’s architectural
gems. Specifically, the grant will fund construction that will aid in stabilizing,
repairing and rebuilding the back patio. Once this phase of the patio restoration
is completed, Child and Family Services will open the doors of the Richmond Lockwood
mansion to the public for tours, once a month.
A $20,000 grant from the Mary Kay Foundation has been awarded to Child and Family
Services’ Haven House to combat domestic violence. The grant is part of the Foundation’s
annual $3 million domestic violence grant program; Haven House is one of 150 shelters
participating in this year’s program. The grant will be used to support general
operating costs at the shelter. Unstable economic times have led to a loss in funding
and donations; the Mary Kay grant will help to supplement funds and enable Haven
House to meet the increased demand for services.
M&T Charitable Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to the Ways to Work Loan
Program. With this grant, Ways to Work can continue to provide loans to low-income
applicants in Erie and Niagara Counties. Loans are used to purchase or repair vehicles,
cover rent or security deposits, provide childcare, continue education or purchase
equipment necessary for business purposes.
Granting Help and Hope to Western New York Families
Child and Family Services is the proud recipient of grants in 2011 from private
and corporate foundations throughout Western New York. These grants are vital to
a variety of our programs that change the lives of thousands of at-risk children
and families served by our organization each year. Child & Family Services gratefully
acknowledges the generosity of the following foundations for grants awarded this
year in support our agency’s mission:
HSBC Bank continues its support of the Ways to Work Loan Program in Erie County
and is funding program expansion efforts in Niagara County in 2011. With the bank’s
support, loans are provided to working families in Erie and Niagara Counties who
cannot access conventional credit. They are used to purchase or repair vehicles,
to cover rent and/or security deposits to move to safer neighborhoods and prevent
homelessness.
The Rich Family Foundation has awarded a grant to Child and Family Services making
it possible to involve some of our most challenged and traumatized children living
at the Conners Children’s Center in a therapeutic horseback riding program at the
Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center in Buffalo this summer. This program will increase
the chance of success in the children overcoming the devastating effects of their
trauma and will provide advances in their treatment.
Through a generous grant from the Children’s Guild Foundation, children at Child
& Family Services’ Stanley G. Falk School and Conners Children’s Center are having
the time of their lives this summer! Falk School students are participating in organized
basketball and soccer camp programs at the University at Buffalo and Daemen College
and children living in residential care at Conners Children’s Center are enjoying
day trips to area attractions such as Fantasy Island, the Aquarium of Niagara, and
Adventure Speedway. They are also celebrating summer with special theme parties
such as Pirate Day, Back to the Sea, and the Monster Bash.
Additionally, the foundation has funded a year-round art therapy program for children
at Conners, which has been both fun and effective in helping them to work through
the trauma they have endured.
Through the company’s “50- Beds in 50-Days” Charitable Promotion, Metro Mattress
has provided a number of beds for women and children seeking refuge at Child & Family
Services’ Haven House. The women and children living at Haven House are escaping
unimaginable situations of abuse and cruelty at the hands of a loved one. Haven
House is the only licensed domestic violence shelter in Erie County and is often
the only safe place they can turn to flee the abuse and begin rebuilding their lives.