Work is getting underway on a new resource for unemployed residents on Buffalo's East Side.
A former parish hall at Bailey Avenue and East Delevan is being converted into the Gerard Place Education and Community Center. Its Executive Director, David Zapfel says, the center will offer job training to people living in poverty who can't afford transportation to other programs across the region.
"We're going to start with an allied health wing, with our partner Erie 1 BOCES, bringing LPN, CNA, home health aide training. But we also know a big barrier for moms in this community is day care. There's very little quality day care in this community. So our future is to do a big day care so that they can drop their child off and then get the job training they need," Zapfel said.
According to a recent report - 85 percent of families in the surrounding neighborhood are living below the poverty level. Zapfel says the new center will allow Gerard Place to expand its GED preparation classes.