While New York State implemented mental health, drug, and opioid courts to handle modern crises, the implementation of these options has remained patchy and ineffective. Members of the Treatment Not Jail (TNJ) Coalition detail the real experience of people suffering from addiction in our legal system. The system as is does not address the root causes of addiction nor consider the best approaches for rehabilitation from substance abuse. This results in years spent toiling through a system with pending charges and little hope.
This week on The Public Good, Tom Culkin and Laura Robinson of the TNJ Coalition join us to provide updates and insight on the Treatment Court Expansion Act for New York State. Tune in to learn about the statewide advocacy to ensure humane, safe, and fair legal processes for people in New York.
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Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
For decades, election cycles have come down to a two-party "lesser of two evils" dynamic of candidate options. The struggle to produce unifying or politically diverse candidates has many feeling unrepresented and ultimately disillusioned with the state of the current voting system. However, some states and municipalities have decided to implement a new form of voting, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). RCV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, which encourages productive political discourse, and requires candidates to win genuine policy support from voters.
This week on The Public Good, Lori Robinson of the League of Women Voters, David Green of Unite NY, and Connor Whitney from the UB Civic Engagement Team join us on behalf of the WNY Ranked Choice Voting Coalition to discuss an alternative voting system. Tune into the discussion to learn more about implementing Ranked Choice Voting in Buffalo and Erie County.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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The current instability and rapid changes in the United States federal government have raised unprecedented threats and concerns for nonprofits and community groups in Buffalo Niagara. Policy shifts, funding instability, and legal uncertainty place immense strain on organizations and government agencies that serve people most in need of protection and benefits—workers, BIPOC folks, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and low-income communities. Hard-won progress toward racial equity and justice is now under attack, with decades of progress being rolled back.
This April, Partnership for the Public Good is launching our 1st annual day-long summit, Advocacy in Action and a virtual workshop series Protecting Our People, Communities, and Organizations: Local Action in a Time of National Crisis. These opportunities offer local residents, aspiring community advocates and organizations a chance to take convene and learn how to fight back and protect necessary services and infrastructure for our communities.
Listen to learn about advocacy and how YOU can get activated in your own community to protect democracy and public services.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
As of February 2024 around 42% of New Yorkers across the state are enrolled in a Medicaid or Essential Plan. While some funding is state tax dollars, impending threats of an $880 billion cut to federal Medicaid spending over 10 years by the current administration will create a significant hole in NYS resources to serve the community.
With federal cuts and the risk of eliminating entire public health systems, Jasmine Westbrook of the Healthcare Education Project/1199 SEIU joins us to discuss their fight to save lives.
Tune in to learn about the statewide federal advocacy led by the Healthcare Education Project to protect medicaid and public health in New York.
Get Involved:
The New York Alliance for Healthcare Justice is fighting to end the Medicaid funding crisis in New York. Continuing to underfund Medicaid not only means severe cuts in mental health services while children and seniors on Medicaid experience difficulty accessing needed health care service.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
With unending sudden changes in federal mandates, immigration has been a central point of tension in our current political sphere. Recent changes include rescinding the "Sensitive Location Policy" which maintains certain spaces as safe spaces, such as schools and places of worship, from immigration enforcement. Due to a targeting of perceived "others," the community is left to fear for their safety.
On this episode of The Public Good, Anna Porter with the New York Immigration Coalition joins us to educate on knowing your rights with immigration enforcement. There are many federal changes happening on a weekly basis creating unease and fear in communities. Tune into the discussion to learn about what you can do and how to keep each other safe.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
More and more children need help with developmental benchmarks between the ages of 0-5 years old, while doctors, therapists, and providers are unable to meet the current need and have waitlists from 6-months up to a year.
White children are 5x more likely to receive early intervention screenings and services up to 24 months than Black and Brown children. Early childhood intervention providers rates of service were last adjusted and set by New York State in 1994, over 30 years ago. These statistics are the reason Liftoff WNY is fighting for more support from New York State for early childhood intervention systems to service our communities.
On this episode of The Public Good, Megan Battista of Liftoff WNY joins us to discuss the current state of early childhood intervention systems in New York State. Tune into learn about the statewide advocacy to support our early childhood intervention system and create better outcomes for children in New York.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
What does it mean to be in a ever-present state of crisis? Many across the political spectrum denote this point in history as a confluence of crises points.
On this episode of The Public Good, Dr. Rinaldo Walcott, Chair of the Department of Africana and American Studies at the University at Buffalo joins us to discuss the role of Black Studies and the history of Black people as a critical tool in confronting crisis and organizing for a better collective future.
Dr. Walcott leads UB's Humanities Institute Annual Conference 2025: Black Studies and the Crises of Our Times, this week on March 12th-14th, free and open to the public. "Black Studies and the Crises of Our Times responds broadly to the impact of the field since its formal establishment over 50 years ago. This multi-day conference, organized by the Department of Africana and American Studies in conjunction with the Humanities Institute, will articulate why we need Black Studies more than ever for both its national critique and its global articulations of political community."
Tune in to the podcast to hear a preview of discussions from the conference and register and join!
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
Cities like Albany and Syracuse have opted into Good Cause Eviction, a tenants' rights and protections law. Why has Buffalo hesitated?
On this episode of The Public Good, PUSH Buffalo and Buffalo DSA join us to debunk Good Cause Eviction and demand Buffalo opt-in to this current New York State legislation.
Good Cause Eviction was passed in New York State in April 2024 to protect tenants in unregulated rental housing units in New York City, cities in upstate jurisdictions could opt in to this law by choice.
The law protects renters from price gouging, rent hikes, retaliatory evictions, and more. The law maintains “good causes” as grounds for legal evictions.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
The 2025 Community Agenda is here! On this episode of the Public Good, Our Executive Director, Andrea Ó Súilleabháin details the origins of the community agenda with a core of true democratic people-centered advocacy.
Each year, Partnership for the Public Good invites our 370+ partner organizations to propose local and state policy changes that advance equality, sustainability, and cultural vibrancy in Buffalo Niagara. The partners take a vote, and the top ten proposals become the Community Agenda – PPG’s focus for the coming year. The 2025 Community Agenda reaches across integral socioeconomic impact areas such as highway removal, community benefits for economic development subsidies, ending unfair punitive practices in educational settings, funding the arts, and more!
The 2025 Community Agenda of the top TEN policy change priorities are:
1. Fully Restore Olmsted's Humboldt Parkway and Delaware Park by Removing the Kensington and Scajaquada Expressways
2. Pilot a Community Responder Team in Erie County
3. Public Good for Public Dollars: Pass a Community Benefits Agreement Law for Erie County
4. End Unfair Suspensions in Buffalo Public Schools
5. Adopt Ranked Choice Voting in the City of Buffalo
6. Pass Good Cause Eviction Protections to Ensure Housing Stability for Buffalo Renters
7. Treatment Not Jail: Expand Access to and Modernize Treatment Courts in Buffalo
8. Fully Implement Proactive Rental Inspections in the City of Buffalo
9. Fulfill the City of Buffalo’s Annual Commitment to Fund the Arts
10. Pass the Working Families Tax Credit to Help Families Thrive in New York State
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
We continue to examine the criminal justice system this week through the lens of sentencing reform. Currently, Communities Not Cages seeks to right the wrongs of the lingering effects of the War on Drugs and crack down on crime in the late 80s and through the 90s by offering incarcerated people a chance at restoration and freedom.
The Marvin Mayfield Act, the Earned Time Act and the Second Look Act remove the incentive for judges to hand down lengthy sentences, create opportunity to have a resentencing hearing while facing endless time in prison and reward rehabilitation and provide personal growth opportunities for those thrown into the system.
On this episode of The Public Good, we are joined by Thomas Gant, Felicia Cruz, and Lamar Scott of Communities Not Cages as they advocate for these three integral bills to change the lives of hundreds of incarcerated people across New York State.
Through the decades our society has faced crisis after crisis: The Crack Epidemic, 2008 Financial Crisis, the Opioid Crisis, COVID-19 and innumerable events have directly impact the economic, social and emotional health of everyday people.
The criminal justice system in New York State sought to create a pathway in the court system to address mental health and substance abuse issues proliferating case after case, through the creation of Treatment Courts. However, the implementation of these court systems have not been uniform across municipalities. As a result, people are forced into unfair plea agreements and unsustainable treatment programs.
On this episode of The Public Good, Sophie Feal of Legal Aid Bureau of Western New York of the Holistic Representation Unit, discusses advocacy efforts to standardized harm reduction principles and create wider accessibility of treatment courts in New York State. Tune in to join the discussion!
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
Crypto currency and AI have emerged as harbingers of a new age, but, at what cost? The term 'data center' has yet to rise in the same notability as its popular end products but has begun to make waves as use of AI and crypto has gained more traction in every day society. The impact of these data centers, filled with computers running endless code for AI and crypto programs, are unregulated energy production, back-door deals for abandoned or defunct power facilities and metric tons of waste water.
On this episode of The Public Good, Bridge Rauch of the Clean Air Coaliton comes to debunk the mysticism of crypto and AI and reveal the tangible harms and threats they pose to our world. Tune in and join the discussion.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
In the last decade, communities across America are demanding a reckoning for the destruction of neighborhoods through the inception of the suburb and the construction of highways to serve newly fled populations to city centers. While some sought escape from urban living and disinvestment in communities of color, others were left with the devastating effects of loss of parks and third spaces, economic downfall of neighborhood businesses and detrimental health effects from pollution. On this episode of The Public Good, The Eastside Parkways Coalition discusses the history of the Humboldt Parkway and its reflection of a story known across the country. The Eastside Parkways Coalition is calling for the removal of the Scajaquada and 33 Expressways to restore this notable corridor and neighborhood to its rightful glory. Tune in and join the discussion.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
Throughout history we have heard about the crisis of "immigration" threatening borders and sovereignty, but, what is the true human experience behind the controversy?
This week on The Public Good, Hagar Hafez, Manager of Organizing & Strategy for WNY with the New York Immigration Coalition discusses the misconceptions and common ground behind migration. Humans have moved space and time across lands for thousands of years, so why are we reaching crisis points of histeria across the world? How have we collectively aided the cause of displacement across different geographies? Most importantly, where do we go from here to join in collective visioning for solutions? Tune in and join the discussion.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
This week on the Public Good we are joined by Dr. Schuyler Lawson, Lead of Research and Evaluation Team with No Menthol Buffalo to discuss the present dangers of menthol tobacco in our communities.
45,000 African Americns die each year due to preventable tobacco related illness. No Menthol Buffalo seeks to ban the use of menthol tobacco products to inhibit the proliferation and addictive qualities to youth and adults within communities across the nation. Learn how you can aid in their public health efforts and the tricks of the tobacco industry that cause us harm.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
On this episode, PPG's own Senior Community Researcher Colleen Kristich & Charis Humphrey, Youth Engagement Coordinator with ECRJC, discuss a newly released report that calls for Buffalo and Erie County to invest in community responders. Community responders are a new type of first responder who responds to nonviolent calls without the police. Over 100 American cities now utilize community responder teams to address low-level health and social needs, which saves police and ambulances time and allows them to respond faster to higher-priority calls. In Buffalo today, over 80% of 911 calls to Buffalo Police do not involve crime or violence, and yet police are almost always sent – an approach that is dangerous, unnecessary, costly, and ineffective. Instead, community responder teams composed of health professionals and peers can be safely deployed without the police to many of these calls and prevent situations from escalating into crises. An initial $100,000 in state funding has been secured by Senator Sean Ryan to begin community outreach, training, and data collection for a pilot community responder program in Buffalo. The press conference was hosted by The Community Responders for Erie County Coalition comprised the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition, Partnership for the Public Good, Little People’s Victory, VOICE Buffalo, and Evergreen Health.
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
On this episode of The Public Good, Leighton Jones of Our City Buffalo joins us to overview what is on your ballot in Buffalo ahead of the November 5th, 2024 election.
As changes occur on federal, state, county and city level, Buffalo has a large influence on changing our political landscape into 2025. We discuss Proposition 1 a proposed amendment that would "expand that protection based on several new categories: ethnicity, disability, age, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy or pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy."
Additionally, Our City Buffalo provides a coprehensive profile of Buffalo School Board Member At-Large candidates for you to make the best decision on who governs the city's $1 Billion budget for our youth.
Want to learn more about what's at stake in our elections? Listen now!
To learn more about our work, visit our website at ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. On this episode of The Public Good, we’re spotlighting the founders of BBRIDGE: Building Black Relationships by Initiating Development, Growth, and Empowerment. Listen in as Regine Ndanga and Caitlin Crowell join students and professors—Jennifer Elliott, Vanity Jones, Ogechi Kalu, and Joyce A. Jekayinoluwa—to dive into their groundbreaking work on domestic and intimate partner violence in Black communities.
Learn how they’re using their research to connect the university with the public, listen to their podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don’t miss their upcoming panel Heal and Safe: Centering Black Voices on October 25th!
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Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
This week on The Public Good, our guest is Keiah Shauku, Director of Community Engagement at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum.
Over the last six months, AKG has hosted "Before and After Again," an artwork, pose, and poetry exhibition featuring Buffalo-based artists and cultural producers Julia Bottoms, Jillian Hanesworth, and Tiffany Gaines. In dialogue with the community, their work responds to the 5/14 tragedy. To mark the exhibition's closing, on October 11, performer Drea D'Nur will present "A Requiem for Our Suffering," a testament to remembrance, grief, and healing, in an event free and open to the public.
Keiah discusses the exhibit, this upcoming event, the role of museums in gatekeeping and community-building, and how we can use art and science to point the way to a more humane future.
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Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!
In this episode, we talk to Richard Steinberg and Sara Schultz of Sierra Club Niagara about their proposal to electrify the City of Buffalo's vehicles. Electrifying our municipal vehicles will save the city money, improve residents' health, and will help reduce the greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change.
To learn more about our work, visit our website a ppgbuffalo.org. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Share your ideas for improving our community by emailing us at info@ppgbuffalo.org. Whether it's highlighting community organizations you admire, shedding light on deserving initiatives, or providing feedback on our current episode, we welcome your thoughts. Let us know how you envision positive change in our community!