Buffalo Geek

The power of Buffalo lies in the hands of activists who get their hands dirty and work to make the city a better place to live.

Meet Bob Kuebler and Ana Church who founded the Youth With a Purpose program at Holy Cross Catholic Church.

Their goal is to pick up where the education system left off by giving kids on the West Side the information and knowledge they need to start their own businesses and make their own future. The process is slow going at the start but has the potential to be a success. It’s a grassroots organization with committed volunteers rather than a city program that is subjected to the whims of budget makers.

“Everybody walks around saying, “Here, we’ll give you a summer job.’ It’s a good quick fix, but we need something long term,” said Kuebler, who got certified to offer the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship program.

The class, which began in February, is just one facet of the program. Kuebler said 300 to 500 kids come through the youth center each week, most of them skeptical about committing to new programs because they’ve seen so many come and go.

Many stop in just to hear someone call them by name and ask how they’re doing. “They want the relationship,” he said.

They can get it from programs like this - or from the neighborhood gunrunner.

Very true. Whenever I hear of an organization like this, I want to support it in some way. I have an old computer collecting some dust…I’m going to put some new parts in and donate it. It’s a start. Perhaps there is more we can do to help these groups get their positive message out and help them stay alive. They are on the front lines of our city and trying to make it a better place. They deserve our support.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 27th, 2006 at 11:35 am and is filed under Activism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.