Showing strength in the face of unthinkable tragedy

Progress to date

• May 2022: Collaborative group of funders, coordinated by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the United Way of Buffalo, formed the Buffalo Together Community Response Fund; more than 100 local and national foundations and 2,000 community members contributed.
• June 2022: More than $655,000 in grant funding is distributed to 86 Black-led organizations working in the community in the immediate aftermath of the shooting to provide food access, mental health services, and to address critical community needs.
• August 2022: Dr. LaVonne Ansari, CEO and executive director of the Community Health Center of Buffalo, Inc.; and Thomas Beauford, Jr., president and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League, accepted an invitation to co-chair a community-led initiative to address systemic issues and structural racism on the East Side.
• September 2022: 15 community members were chosen to participate on the Steering Committee with the responsibility to develop priorities and a plan of action to address critical issues that will address racial inequities.
• October 2022: The Steering Committee, with separate funding from local philanthropic organizations, hired Minneapolis-based Rainbow Research to lead the process.
• November 2022: Steering Committee and consultant are publicly announced and began work.
• January 2023: Rainbow Research was on the ground in Buffalo for a site visit. The team met with community leaders, funders and residents and spent time walking around the East Side with members of the Steering Committee to better understand the neighborhoods.
• February 2023: Rainbow Research completed a background literature review, which you can read here.
• March 2023: The Rainbow Research team was back in Buffalo to continue meeting with community members, including faith-based leaders, business leaders, Block Club leaders, elected officials, community residents, organizers and advocates.
• May 2023: In May through July, Rainbow Research completed a planning matrix and investment options list for review and prioritization with a goal of delivering a final community investment strategy.
• June 2023: The Steering Committee participated in a guided tour of Home Headquarters (HHQ) infill housing and community development initiatives in various neighborhoods within the City of Syracuse. This non-profit works to help those in low-income areas become homeowners. This visit also included a meeting with HHQ CEO Kerry Quaglia and members of the senior management team who oversee their homeownership services and new construction.
• July 2023: The Steering Committee participated in a virtual presentation and discussion with CHN Housing Partners in Cleveland, Ohio. CHN Housing Partners works to help those in low-income areas become homeowners through a lease to purchase program. The organization also has partnerships in parts of Ohio, New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
• September 2023: The Steering Committee received a virtual presentation from Nourish + Bloom Markets, a Black-owned grocery store with self-sufficient AI capabilities that can be easily located in convenient areas using shipping containers. Following this virtual presentation, several members of the Steering Committee traveled to the Nourish + Bloom in Atlanta, Georgia, to tour the store.
• October 2023: Mark Lewis, President and CEO of the POISE Foundation, a Black-led community foundation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presented to the Steering Committee as the group continued to learn about other successful initiatives around the country. This foundation’s goal is to strengthen Black families across the City of Pittsburgh. The Steering Committee also heard from Chandra Smith Baker, the Co-Founder of the Minnesota Black Collective Foundation, another Black-led foundation. This foundation was founded after the murder of George Floyd to build power in Black communities in Minnesota.
• December 2023: The Buffalo Together Community Response Fund Steering Committee is diligently and thoughtfully working in partnership with Rainbow Research to develop a community investment strategy that is grounded in community engagement and will drive intentional development that cultivates ownership and creates generational wealth for current East Side residents. A listening and learning process of this scope and scale takes time, and it is important to remember that the steering committee members are continuing to process their own trauma as they develop this critical investment roadmap with the intention of sharing the strategy with the community in mid-2024.