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Home > Leadership > Mayor > Archive Press Releases > 2006 Archives > March 2006 > Mayor, Homeless Alliance of Western New York Unveil Ten-Year Plan to End Lo

Mayor, Homeless Alliance of Western New York Unveil Ten-Year Plan to End Long-Term Homelessness


For more Information:
Katie McHugh Connolly – (716) 853-1101
Bill O'Connell – (716) 853-1101, 380-5732 (cell)

Announcement made as many supporters looked on at Buffalo City Hall

This morning, on the steps of Buffalo City Hall, the Homeless Alliance of Western New York unveiled its 10-Year Plan to End Long-Term Homelessness in Buffalo and Erie County, titled PRISM: A Community Solution to Homelessness.  (PRISM stands for Prevention, Resources, Independence through Housing, Services, and Maintenance).  The Homeless Alliance has been working with the community on the plan since late 2004, delaying its release to secure the support of Buffalo's new mayor.  Mayor Brown, City Commissioner of Community Services Tanya Perrin-Johnson, and Erie County Department of Social Services Commissioner Michael Weiner were among the many who gathered in support of the 10-year plan.  A special message from Federal Interagency Council on Homelessness Regional Coordinator Carleton Lewis was read.

In his comments, Mayor Byron Brown noted, "The Homeless Alliance of Western New York is to be commended for developing a ten-year strategic plan that represents a reorientation of the homeless service community and of the City of Buffalo toward ending, not merely relieving, homelessness."

Buffalo and Erie County's 10-year plan, PRISM: A Community Solution to Homelessness, is the product of an exhaustive planning process, working in concert with a national movement toward addressing and ending homelessness through strategic community planning. Input from community data collection efforts, local experts, concerned citizens, homeless and formerly homeless persons, and national trends and best practices all contributed to the final plan.

Notably, the Alliance kicked off its PRISM Project with a large-scale, 24-hour survey of over one thousand at-risk, currently, and formerly homeless individuals.  PRISM Project Coordinator Katie McHugh Connolly explained, "The voices of homeless and at-risk persons grounded the development of the plan, and the Alliance is committed to carrying this input through the implementation of the PRISM plan."

Though facilitated by the Homeless Alliance of Western New York, the plan itself very much belongs to the community, and reflects the community's experiences, concerns, and vision of the future.  "We are talking about a community-wide commitment to making change.  No one should be homeless, and addressing long-term homelessness is a step – a big, ambitious step – in the right direction," stated Bill O'Connell, Homeless Alliance Executive Director.

The national push to end long-term homelessness is endorsed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the current presidential administration, and bipartisan political leaders.  Ten-year plans have been completed by many cities, counties, and states nationwide, including Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado; Tampa, Florida; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; Albany; Memphis, Tennessee; New York City; and Washington, D.C.

The Homeless Alliance of Western New York is an independent non-governmental agency whose members and staff are dedicated to facilitating dialogue and strategic action between government, public, private, and foundation sectors to end homelessness.