People United for Sustainable Housing — a local group
dedicated to addressing the poor housing conditions and lack of living-wage
jobs on Buffalo’s West Side — plans to host several upcoming events to support
its push for green jobs and green housing in the Queen City.
This Saturday, May 23rd, at 10AM, PUSH will host a
“Gardiner’s Breakfast” to celebrate the 19th Street Refugee and Community
Garden. The garden is a product of PUSH’s Healthy Neighborhood Concept Plan,
which aims to deal with vacant housing and other negative aspects of the neighborhoods on Buffalo’s West Side. The plan urges residents to work together
to better their community space, which includes taking care of this garden when
it’s planted soon.
“It’ll help improve neighborhood ties,” said Harrison
Watkins, a community organizer for PUSH. “It helps people who live in the same
neighborhood, the same space, get to know each other.” The breakfast, to be held
at 92 19th Street, is free and open to the public.
PUSH will also host a Green Jobs/Green Housing Town Hall
Meeting on Thursday, May 28th. The meeting will be held in support of PUSH’s
Green Jobs, Green Housing platform, which calls for state legislation that
would weatherize 1 million units statewide. The platform also advocates for the creation of more than 30,000 “green jobs” statewide — jobs that address everyday concerns like energy efficiency, environmental hazard control and access to healthy foods. The group has invited
several elected officials to attend the meeting, including Mayor Bryon Brown, Erie County
Executive Chris Collins, and Assemblyman Sam Hoyt. So far, State Senator Bill
Stachowski has confirmed he or a representative will be on hand for the event.
The meeting will begin at 6PM at 271 Grant Street.
In June, PUSH will also co-host the Great Lakes Metro
Conference with a host of other groups from the Great Lakes region to develop
federal support for sustainable cities and create a vision for the long-term
revitalization of the region. Topics covered by the conference include
weatherization, green jobs, and the restoration of the Great Lakes region. The
summit will take place June 18th through the 19th. Registration costs $25 and
is now open.