The Erie County Department of Social Services will join other members of the Lackawanna Stakeholders Coalition to host “Family Night Out” on Monday, March 27 at Catholic Charities in Lackawanna, an event designed to raise awareness among the public of the human needs-based services and resources available to them while bringing the partners providing those services together as well. The Lackawanna Stakeholders Coalition is a collaborative group of individuals working to establish partnerships between businesses, non-profits, and municipal entities in the Lackawanna community to advocate for, develop, and make accessible programs for all residents. Each partner plays a vital role not only in the Coalition but in the community, and to date the Coalition’s actions have brought initiatives to the community including adult literacy training and English as a second language opportunities, health awareness efforts, youth and afterschool opportunities, and the creation of the Community Resource Hub at Catholic Charities.

“Family Night Out will be a great opportunity for Lackawanna residents to learn more about what is going on in their community, how they can empower themselves and their families, and ways that they can be more involved in community activities,” said Erie County Commissioner of Social Services Al Dirschberger. “This event brings together a number of Coalition partners from all backgrounds who share a common goal of helping residents to build and sustain a healthy and inclusive community far into the future. It will be an informative, free, and fun evening and I encourage interested people to attend.”

The Coalition identified the need for a Community Resource Hub after seeing residents struggle to access services and resources, which the Hub now brings together on a regular basis at Catholic Charities’ offices at 75 Caldwell Place in Lackawanna. Launched by the Coalition in November 2016, the Hub greets visitors every first and third Friday of each month from 9am-12pm.

The free “Family Night Out” is scheduled from 4 - 7 pm and will include service providers from the Amanda Hansen Foundation, ACCESS WNY, The Lackawanna Library, Girl Scouts, Child and Adolescent Treatment Services, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Erie County Department of Social Services Foster & Adoptive, the New York State Department of Labor and more. Dessert and activities for families start at 4:45 pm with the Lackawanna school chorus. Families can enjoy additional performances, face painting, henna and fun throughout the evening including Dave Jeffers Magic Show at 6:30pm.

The Coalition is facilitated and convened by the Mobile Safety Net Team, an initiative of the John R. Oishei Foundation. Coalition members include the Department of Social Services, ACCESS of WNY, Lackawanna Public Schools, the Lackawanna Library, Catholic Charities, M&T Bank, the City of Lackawanna, the YWCA of WNY, Literacy NY Buffalo-Niagara, and additional non-profit agencies and area churches.

For details about the event or more information about the Coalition, view the Coalition’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LackawannaNYCoalition or contact Natalie Cook, Community Impact Coordinator with the Mobile Safety-Net Team at (716) 854-3494 (x3314) or ncook@goodwillwny.org .

For more information:

On the Erie County Department of Social Services, visit http://www2.erie.gov/socialservices/ .