After celebrating 40 years of helping families in the area, the Ronald McDonald House of Buffalo is looking to improve its location even more. Executive Director Lisa Booz said there is an ongoing $800,000 project to address accessibility issues for all including people with canes, using wheelchairs and more. By Antonio Calderon
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Cindy Havey, League of Women Voters Buffalo/Niagara board member, encourages a Buffalo State student to vote. |
By Rylee Shott
With the election coming up on Nov. 5, New York voters should be aware of Proposition One that will be located on the back of the ballot.
Proposition One is the New York State Equal Rights Amendment. The goal of this amendment is to change section 11 of article 1 of the Constitution to include gender, gender identity, health care choices, age, and disability to the State Constitution. The Amendment is not proposing new laws but enforcing and protecting the laws that are already in place in New York.
“These things are already in New York law, but what this will do is put those rights into the Constitution,” Cindy Havey, League of Women Voters Buffalo/Niagara board member said.
Laws can be easily changed whereas the State Constitution is a lot harder to change.
The amendment has plenty of support but, there are still plenty of people who oppose the amendment.
“People are afraid that it [the amendment] could lead to changes in their lives they are not comfortable with. Opponents seem to me are to be focusing on the possibility of what the constitution amendment could lead to, not necessarily what the Constitution says,” Blair Horner, executive director of New York Public Interest Research Group said.
There are some concerns with how people will understand the wording of the amendment.
“The legislature passed a law saying that ballot initiatives had to be written in accessible language where someone with a sixth-grade education could understand it. And so, they say that this initiative is written for someone with a fifteenth-grade education. It is written in a way that is very hard to understand,” Ruth Goldman, Women and Gender Studies professor at Buffalo State University, said.
Havey and the League in Buffalo Niagara have been getting the word out at Buffalo State University and Elmwood Village Farmers Market to spread the word about the amendment.
NYPIRG is working to inform the young voters on Buffalo State, Canisius and other campuses in Buffalo on how to vote and what will be on the ballot.
“We are going to educate voters more generally, particularly young voters, on how the system works so that they can cast their ballots,” Horner said.
The fight for equal rights has been an ongoing battle within the United States for decades. In New York the idea of amending the constitution to guarantee more equal rights has been in the conversation since 2019.
“I think it is very surprising to most people that we don’t already have this amendment to the Constitution, especially an Amendment protecting women,” Goldman said.
Public Information Officer Kelly Khatib says the NFTA Metro service is bringing out more models of battery electric buses into the fleet. So, passengers of the West Side bus routes 3 Grant, 8 Main, 7 Baynes Richmond, 22 Porter-Best, and 12 Utica, can expect to see more of these buses. The first release of the battery electric buses on Earth Day, April 22, 2022, has provided more opportunities for less usage of fossil fuels. The Western New York Environmental Alliance chair, John Whitney, supports the transition. This nonprofit organization collaborates with Western New York companies on environmental goals, interests, and issues such as climate change, the use of clean energy, and reducing greenhouse gases. By Emmanuel Rogers
Kameron Dilaura and Marino Frias welcome students to the West Side Teens after-school program held at West Side Community Services. The program returned on Sept. 24 and was created to provide a safe space for teens and help prepare them for life after high school. Frias, director of the youth department, said that the program offers other activities apart from fitness, arts and programming. It offers life skill readiness, resume building, a study hall for the teens to work on anything outside of the program, SAT prep, and many more fun activities to help keep them engaged. Dilaura, teen council president of the program, is 16 years old and said that within a year of being there he’s gained many connections through different organizations and colleges. “There’s a lot of opportunities for any age, you can come here for one year, two years, no matter how long you’re going to get a lot of opportunities later on,” Dilaura said. West Side Teens is available to students in 7th grade to 19-year-olds. They meet at 161 Vermont St. at 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Thursdays. By Shanice Forbes
By Antonio Calderon
In a country that is known for its ability to innovate on new ideas and ways of life to create wealth, the balance of the current healthcare system in the United State shows the opposite.
A report done by the Commonwealth Fund showed that when compared to nine other countries in the world that have a high income, the United States ranked last when it comes to overall health care.
In the Buffalo area, medical officials were not satisfied with the current state of health care.
Paul Violanti, the director of global health education at the Jericho Road Community Health Center believes that health care within the United States is not at all in a good place.
“For all the money and resources that are put into health care within this country, there are still too many barriers placed in front of those that truly need it,” Violanti said.
He also mentioned the need for there to be more foundations and community based projects to help those in need and mentioned the Kaleida Health Foundation as being an example of what Buffalo needs more of.
Jack Cukierman, a doctor who works with diabetes and metabolism at WNY Medical on Grant Street, agrees.
“I have had many experiences with patients who were not able to get all of the care that would provide them with the best chance for a healthy future and it hurts to know that it happens to so many despite being in a country that has the resources to make things work,” Cukierman said.
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| Western New York Medical |
An article from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration speaks on one potential way to solve health care challenges and that is through collaborative communities.
These are groups in which members of the public and commercial sectors, including the FDA, collaborate on health care concerns in order to accomplish shared goals and objectives. They may last indefinitely, are called together by interested parties, generate outcomes as needed, and address issues with wide-ranging effects.
A local named Justin Mendoza who has worked with the Neighborhood Health Center, has experience with collaborative communities and is in favor of what they offer.
“During my time
working with these areas, I have witnessed many good deeds done for community
members, and this solely serves to emphasize that there is still more to be
done to make sure that everyone can take advantage of the advances in health
care that the country has made,” Mendoza said.
As a whole, America has made many mistakes concerning their health care and it is now impacting millions negatively but that doesn’t mean that change can’t still happen.
Local health professionals in Buffalo understand all of these issues and are actively doing more to speak up about it in hopes of others catching on and sharing the message as well.
From local foundations to collaborative communities, there is a lot that can be done to help many in the Buffalo area and beyond.
After breaking ground on the corner of Niagara and Hudson streets last September, the Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute has faced a $8 million funding gap that organizers are hoping to close. Casimiro Rodriguez Sr., founder and president of the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York, said that the situation was expected. “Capital campaigns are very challenging especially during these times. The project is a $26.5 million project, and we were able to raise $18 million,” Rodriguez said. The council has plans to close that gap through new market tax credits, grant applications, and private and public donations. Rodriguez said the project is on track to finish by early 2026. By Shanice Forbes