Buffalo Community Center Collaborative

    CRUCIAL Human Services, Inc. is a not-for-profit community services center committed to providing educational and recreational opportunities to youth, seniors, and community members at large. The primary purpose of our services is to provide an alternative and "Safe Haven" for community residents living within the North Fillmore area. Through homework assistance activities, along with recreational and cultural enrichment programming, we enhance the quality of life for community residents.
     CRUCIAL is located in the heart of Buffalo^s Federal Enterprise Community (FEC) where community needs are great and resources are limited. Program participants reside in a policing district renowned for high crime activity, high adult unemployment, households where the annual income is less than $20,000 and a third of the residents under 18 live in single-parent homes. In addition, according to Erie County Health Assessment Data, this area also has the highest rating for teen pregnancy. Nonetheless, CRUCIAL, along with partnering agencies such as the City of Buffalo Weed and Seed Program, Buffalo Police Department and the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney^s Office, Buffalo Urban League and Youth Opportunities, is working together to provide accessible services that address the needs of at-risk youth and other community residents.
     In 2000, CRUCIAL was designated a "Safe Haven" by the City of Buffalo Weed and Seed Program. As a "Safe Haven" we provide community residents with a safe space and place to socialize, learn, and play. We provide youth, specifically, with an alternative to juvenile/criminal activities during vulnerable periods of the day. CRUCIAL offers youth engaging activities such as athletic sports (i.e., basketball, soccer) table and board games, arts and crafts activities, after school tutorials, life skills activities, job training activities, and external excursions. We also offer community seniors an alternative to isolation by providing an arts and crafts instructor, table and board games, aerobics, shopping trips, computer instruction and seminars specific to the needs and desires of seniors.
     Our facilites are equipped with a computer lab where community members will be able to come and learn word processing, Excel, Access, internet, e-mail, and web design. We have a television room that is linked to a network that will provide community block clubs access to information that allows insight into new initiatives that they may find helpful in their planning processes. We also have a state of the art kitchen, an arts and crafts room and a dining and home economics room.
     As you can see, CRUCIAL is offering a number of services and activities to the community and we invite you to find out how you can be a part of the great efforts going forward to "Leave No Neighborhood Behind."