A new emergency shelter is officially open for Buffalo families in need, and just as winter chills are on the horizon.
The shelter is part of the Salvation Army’s Hope on Main initiative and provides 32 rooms with 80 total beds.
The facility offers a stable place where the people served can start to build better lives, Buffalo Deputy Mayor Thomas Baines said.
“A shelter answers the question of tonight, but our job together is to answer the question of tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day,” he said. “A lease with their name on it, a key that fits into their own lock, a place to call home.”
Hope on Main is a $100 million project split into three phases. The next phase is building 160 affordable housing units on Main Street. The Homeless Alliance of Western New York already has helped secure close to $10 million in state funding for Phase Two.
The multi-stage project exemplifies their mentality that the job isn’t done, Salvation Army Major Annette Lock said.
“There's more families to serve, more lives to change, and more hope to build,” she said. “We have seen what is possible when a community comes together around a shared vision, and I believe that the best is still to come. So today we celebrate; tomorrow we keep building.”
Phase Three will include a new Salvation Army Church and community center to be built on the East Side.
