Mission

The New Buffalo Institute will become a hub to centralize the institution’s community and civic engagement efforts, connecting students, alumni, faculty and staff with community partners in the Hamlin Park, Masten Park, and Cold Springs neighborhoods, and leverage our geographic location as a resource for the community.

Through the co-creation and facilitation of programming, creative initiatives, and community-engaged learning activities, the NBI will advance sustained, authentic engagement led by community identified priorities that center equity, empowerment, and work in solidarity with, rather than in service to, our neighbors.

Goals and Objectives

• Build strategic and focused relationships with community partners, prioritizing quality vs. quantity to have long-term, ongoing impact
• Support and advance meaningful civic engagement through community-engaged learning and service
• Promote an understanding of, and appreciation for, the importance of active, sustained community engagement
• Open up Canisius in manageable ways to the community
• Empower the Canisius community, especially students, to responsibly and ethically engage with our neighbors in a way that avoids extractive behavior,  and promotes an asset-based approach to understanding the East side of Buffalo that values its historical richness and history
• Build capacity of students to see this community in a new light
• Promote pride in the neighborhood for both those from the community, and those considered “transplants”
• Develop a thorough, data-driven understanding of the critical needs of the East side of Buffalo to participate in, and collaborate on, meaningful work already in progress for addressing those needs

Areas of Focus

The NBI focuses on set strategic priorities, each of which has significant implications for the East Side of Buffalo.

• Urban Education

• Community Based Learning and Community Service 

• Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

• Neighborhood Development and Revitalization