June 2: We're celebrating NeighborWorks Week with a fundraiser for Project Homeless Connect
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 5:09PM 
As part of NeighborWorks® Week 2012, West Side & Black Rock-Riverside NHS are hosting a fundraiser for Project Homeless Connect, a program of the WNY Coalition for the Homeless that brings resources to homeless people in need.
On Saturday, June 2, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., the two agencies will bring food, entertainment and neighbors together at 367 Connecticut Street, the lot next to the Golden Key. Tickets are available for purchase online or at the door.
A ticket buys a hotdog, provided by Mineo and Sapio, and a drink, as well as entry into the grand prize raffle: a three-hour tour for four people on the Black Pearl Tall Ship. Veggie options provided by Go Veggies will be also available. The proceeds of this event benefit homeless families and our community on the West Side, in Buffalo, and all of WNY.
West Side NHS is seeking volunteers to help with the event. Those interested in volunteering may visit the agency's page on Volunteer WNY or email Brigidann Rauch at brauch@wsnhs.org.
The theme for West Side NHS’ 2012 NeighborWorks® Week is “Home Matters,” meaning that access to a safe, quality and affordable home matters to everyone and that securing a home for everyone benefits all. Every newly built or rehabbed home creates jobs, improves the local economy and improves the health and well-being for the family.
According to recent statistics released by the WNY Homeless Alliance, in Erie County alone on an average night an estimated 1,000 people spend the night homeless. Twenty-two percent of the homeless population in Erie County are children under 18, and, of that 22%, 40% are under the age of 5. Project Homeless Connect links these families with available resources and helps bring them into stable homes.
This event is part of West Side NHS annual celebration of NeighborWorks® Week. During NeighborWorks® Week, West Side NHS and other NeighborWorks® organizations across the country will mobilize tens of thousands of business people, residents and government officials in a week of neighborhood change and awareness. They will rehab and repair homes, paint and landscape properties, conduct neighborhood tours, recognize successful partnerships and host a number of events that educate, train and inform. In 2011, more than 4,700 families benefited from the week’s activities nationwide.
