Erie County and its’ community partners are continuing and expanding relief and support efforts to the Buffalo community in the wake of Saturday’s shooting. Numerous county offices and departments are joining with community agencies on-site and in the neighborhood to offer mental health and counseling services to the community, food aid to community members coping with the loss of their market, and services and supports for family members of the victims. In addition, organizations, businesses and individuals hoping to make donations or volunteer services will now be able to do so easily. A guide to available services is below:

At the Johnnie B. Wiley Center—1100 Jefferson Avenue, Buffalo:

• FREE MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING: from 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM Tuesday May 17, then from 1:00 PM – 9:00 PM from Wednesday May 18-Friday May 27
• Counseling provided by Crisis Services, Spectrum, Best Self, and Endeavor
• Spiritual Counseling is being provided by the American Red Cross and other faith leaders
• Restorative Circles are provided by MVP and other partners with support from the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition

• FREE FOOD DISTRIBUTION
• 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM on Tuesday May 17
• 1:00 PM - 9:00 PM from Wednesday May 18-Friday May 27
• Food provided by Feed More of WNY

At the Resource Council —347 E. Ferry St., Buffalo:

• FREE FOOD DISTRIBUTION
• 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM every day through Friday May 27 
• Food provided by Feed More of WNY and Tops Friendly Markets

Language Line Interpretation Services are available for speakers of Arabic, Burmese, Cantonese, Farsi, French, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office, along with other NYS Office of Victim Services funded programs, is working to help the victims’ families access compensation programs. Family members can get more information at (716) 858-2400, this line is answered live 8:30-5:00 Monday-Friday.  Messages are monitored at other times. All other calls at 716-858-4640.

The Erie County District Attorney, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York State Office of Victim Services and the Buffalo Police Department will soon open a Community Resource Center at 347 East Ferry to provide trauma-informed support and immediate services to residents. Th eFBI provided resources to support this initiative, which will be available to all residents as long as it remains needed in our community. Once opened the Center will be open Monday - Friday from 9:00 AM - 1:30 PM and 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM, Saturday from 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM and Sunday from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM.  

Victims’ family members may also be eligible for compensation to help with funeral costs. For more information, contact the NYS Office of Victim Services at 1-800-247-8035 or at https://ovs.ny.gov/ .

Businesses/Organizations wishing to make monetary donations should contact the Buffalo Niagara Partnership at buffalo@thepartnership.org  or at (716) 541-1701. A website to receive online donations from organizations and individuals will also be announced soon.

To Volunteer:

• send an email to volunteer@erie.gov . Include your organization’s name and address, point of contact, and the approximate number of volunteers you may have available.

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