Lesser-known leaders making an impact

By Shanice Keane and Brendan Lherisson
BengalNews Reporters

Elected politicians are the voices of their constituents and are the major figures most residents know, but there are also lesser-known leaders who are average citizens actively engaged in community affairs.

Through their constant participation with block clubs and other community organizations to improve the communities they live in, they have risen to the top as the loudest voices. These average joes are reverends of local parish communities, board members of non-profit organizations and members of community associations.

Rev. George Kirwin of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church at 18 Greenwood Ave. is one of these voices. The parish was created in 2007 when the Buffalo Catholic Diocese merged three parishes. Kirwin and his new parish are trying to improve the image of the neighborhood by repaving sidewalks around the church and planting flowers around the neighborhood.

Kirwin works closely with Niagara District Councilmember David A. Rivera.

“I’ve been working with Councilman Rivera who has been very helpful on a couple of issues one being the sale of our school across the street, but also the creation of a garden to reach out to the neighborhood," said Kirwin.

The church fence facing Grant Street, where the garden is going to be located, has “been taken down in order to facilitate new lighting, benches, tables and murals. These murals will help make people aware of the ethnic representation and minority groups in the community such as those from Burma and African countries,” said Kerwin.

Another loud echoing voice in the community is Bob Franke, who is the executive director of the Grant-Ferry Association. The association is not only a collaboration of neighborhood businesses but also a major advocate for improving Grant Street, Ferry Street, and the West Side. Franke was recently blown away when he read in ArtVoice that Grant Street, is the “coolest up and coming area” said Franke.

According to Franke it was only through constant beating the drum about Grant Street, why anything has gotten done in the first place. He has dealt with the smaller issue of Grant Street, such as its appearance and cleanliness in addition to larger issues that he believes can change and advance the community if implemented correctly. For example, he believes Buffalo State College and its student housing are economic engines for the district and can better serve the community if the college was more engaged in working with businesses and residents on Grant Street, to the environment surrounding the college.

Bob Franke says community leaders have a tough job:


Although he’s not an elected leader it does not stop him from getting things done by City Hall and local leaders like seeing abandoned houses are properly looked at by the city.

“If there is a vision I think needs to be in place, I have a much better chance of advancing than most folks in the community, at the same time it can be a burden because you don’t have political weight,” Franke said.

Harrison Watkins, a community organizer for People United for Sustainable Housing (P.U.S.H) located at 271 Grant St., is another community leader. P.U.S.H is a non-profit community organization working to rebuild the West Side of Buffalo and create a better economic environment for residents.

Watkins believes that members of the community should not only rely on elected officials to better their communities, but rely on themselves as well. Watkins said he has helped organize protests in the community to bring awareness to what needs to be done by elected officials in order to improve the West Side. He along with fellow P.U.S.H members and different organizations have protested in Manhattan on Wall Street, against big banks that have cost taxpayers money in bailouts during the recession. In the past Watkins and P.U.S.H have helped start local community gardens like the one on 19th St., which was once a vacant lot. The latest project is the creation of a park on Massachusetts Ave., next to the Butler Mitchell Boys and Girls Club along with the rehabilitation of 11 houses on the West Side so low income families can purchase them.

Margaret Alfano is another community voice who tries to do her part to improve conditions on the West Side. Unlike Kirwin, Franke and Watkins, who have organizations supporting them, Alfano is a self-motivated lone community voice. Since becoming a community activist in the 1980s, she has become a housing court liaison to various block clubs, where members address to her their concerns about various houses in the community that city government needs to improve.

Alfano thinks that city leaders should be accountable to the community seeing as they were elected to do a job. One of her steadfast issues is housing violations, which has become a great headache for her. Alfano said that she has submitted to Citi Stat, an organization responsible for the management of city municipality agencies, information on houses that don’t have proper address numbers on them. This violation of the city housing code also poses a danger in case of an emergency because first responders could have a hard time finding the location.

“I’ve called the city’s 311 number multiple times and gave information to Citi Stat about houses not even having addresses on them, so that first responders could easily find them and I have yet to get a call back,” said Alfano.

Alfano has no interest in ever getting into politics. Years ago she was offered a job at City Hall due to her active involvement within the community and turned it down.

One figure Dr. Curtis Hayes, a community activist and an associate professor of Economics at Buffalo State College decided to throw his hat into the political arena.
Last summer he was appointed by members of council as the Ellicott District representative and for the first time he’ll be running for the position later this year. Haynes is an advocate for residents of the lower East and West Side and is currently helping families being forced out of their neighborhood by University at Buffalo, which just purchased McCarley Gardens located at 818 Michigan Ave., for $15 million.