A new facility for homeless women aims to make a dent in the homeless population in Buffalo.
The Lieutenant Colonel Matt Urban Human Services Center opened the doors to its newest living facility, Hope Gardens Apartments, on Monday. The Oberlin Avenue facility will house 20 women who are now living on the streets.
The complex is based on the Housing First model, which provides women with a stable home before tackling the issues that led to their situation. The center features activities including gardening, art, music and yoga, along with providing counseling.
Executive Director Marlies Wesolowski says one of the women is dying of cancer and has been mixing homeless life and chemotherapy. She says there are a lot more homeless women out there and nowhere near enough housing for them.
"As we were building the project," Wesolowski notes, "We actually lost three or four women who froze to death on the streets because they didn't have a warm place to come in from out of the cold... We're very glad that it's finally open and we can, at least, offer safe haven for twenty."
Wesolowski says the $5.6 million project will offer a therapeutic atmosphere to women who are often traumatized by the events which put them on the street and by what they go through on the streets.
The Matt Urban Center also has a 50-bed shelter for homeless families, with many kids in city schools.
Hope Gardens was paid for using federal and state funding.
