UB partners with PUSH Buffalo to enhance community resilience, workforce development

UB faculty have joined forces with People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo and other community partners to address extreme weather hazards and energy efficiency in Buffalo’s aging housing stock. Leading UB’s involvement in this initiative is Susan Spierre Clark, principal investigator on a recent round of funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Change Grants Program.

“When the EPA grant opportunity arose, PUSH Buffalo was eager to collaborate with UB due to our ongoing relationship and expertise in community resilience and urban planning,” says Clark, Edward J. Kikta Jr. Innovation Professor of Experiential Learning and assistant professor in the Department of Environment and Sustainability (EVS).

The overarching goal of the $20 million project is to build resilience in Buffalo communities by addressing vulnerabilities related to extreme weather and outdated housing infrastructure. A key strategy involves creation of Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs — community block-level centers that will provide residents with access to support services and training for emergency situations.

UB’s role in this initiative includes surveying neighborhoods to gather data on community needs, which will guide decisions on anti-displacement development, housing improvements, workforce development and connectivity to local resources.

Clark explains that much of the funding will be allocated to supporting graduate students from two UB departments: Architecture and Environment and Sustainability.

“These students will play a pivotal role in advancing the project’s goals,” Clark says. “EVS students will develop and conduct surveys in underserved Buffalo neighborhoods to identify pressing issues and needs, while architecture students will focus on design work for PUSH Buffalo’s workforce training center. This expansion will enable the center to accommodate a wide range of workforce training activities associated with the initiative.”

UB’s connection with PUSH Buffalo is rooted in years of collaborative work.

“This is an opportunity for me, my colleagues and my students to make a real local impact,” Clark says. “I have worked on many community-based resilience projects across the U.S., but this will be the first one that I am able to do locally in Buffalo and I am enthusiastic about the strong relationships that will come out of this effort and the local impacts on health and well-being in Buffalo.”

Clark and Nick Rajkovich, associate professor in the School of Architecture and Planning, have also worked with a variety of local and regional partners, underscoring the importance of faculty partnerships — especially impactful projects like the ones with PUSH Buffalo.

“Over the last six years, our school has worked with PUSH on designs to renovate existing housing, on research and the implementation of their workforce training center. It’s been an honor to work with their organization and I am personally really excited to see what we can accomplish in the community with this additional support from the EPA,” Rajkovich says.

The Buffalo Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs Plan aims to create Community Resilience Hubs across Erie County to provide disadvantaged communities access in emergencies to portable solar kits, batteries, walkie-talkies, backup generators and other emergency equipment. The initiative also seeks to mitigate the impacts of future extreme weather events on the Buffalo community, underscoring its long-term significance.

“Working with community partners transforms a research project into an impactful project that addresses real problems people face daily,” Clark notes. “This project is unique because it’s led by a community organization, and UB is stepping in to support their efforts.”

As the initiative unfolds, Clark says it provides an opportunity for the university and community organizations to continue to collaborate and create meaningful, sustainable change.

“The relationships forged through this project and the resulting local health and well-being improvements are immensely meaningful to me. I consider it truly an honor to be leading UB’s efforts in serving the Buffalo community,” Clark says.