Tell your Erie County Legislator to fund a healthcare facility instead of a jail expansion!
In the 2026 Erie County budget, the county’s current plans call for a $470 million expansion of the Alden county jail. Instead, advocates are calling for $1 million dollars to fund a healthcare study for healthcare beds for detox, crisis stabilization and mental health. Should the county go for this instead, it will move services out of the jail and into a dedicated care facility, to allow lifesaving treatment more quickly and with less risk then the current services at the Alden county jail.
This is an opportunity to persuade the county to go for solutions that do not require prison, and instead actually help our neighbors to access care instead of punishing them.
Further information can be found here:
And a guide for contacting your legislator here:
ICE Targeting Wal-Marts
From Buffalo BIRDWatch: ICE has been targeting people in Walmarts in the area, particularly the Cheektowaga Walmart on Walden.
Want to help? Report ICE sightings to (716) 222-2190. https://linktr.ee/BIRDwatch has links for further information.
Clean Air's November General Meeting
Clean Air WNY is an advocacy group for environmental justice and public health in WNY. Their general meeting is Wednesday, November 19th.
From their website:
Start: Wednesday, November 19, 2025•05:30 PM
End: Wednesday, November 19, 2025•07:00 PM
Location: Trinity Episcopal Church • 371 Delaware Ave, Buffalo, NY 14202 US
From their website:
Register today for our November 2025 General Meeting!
This meeting will be hybrid, with both online and in-person options to attend.
We will cover how you can join Clean Air, current campaign updates, a brief training for some related upcoming campaign advocacy, and review ways in which you can engage in our current campaigns.
Please save the link to this meeting, which will be available on the following page after registering, and will also be emailed to you prior to the meeting.
Meeting is online and in-person. Online option includes captioning. The in-person meeting is on the second floor - a lift from the ground level to the first floor is available through the atrium entrance, and an elevator is available for second floor access. Masks encouraged; meeting hall is large and well ventilated.
—------
Buffalo Public Schools Need Your Survey Feedback!
From Our City Action Buffalo:
Buffalo Public Schools is preparing to close two schools — but despite the rumors circulating online, no decisions have been made yet. A 12-member committee (including Our City Buffalo’s own Harper Bishop) is still reviewing data before presenting recommendations to the Board on December 17.
Here’s the hard truth:
If our community doesn’t speak up, the burden of these closures will fall — once again — on schools that serve primarily Black and Brown children.
Schools with higher suspension rates, lower test scores, and the least funding are the easiest targets. But those conditions are symptoms of systemic neglect, not reasons to shut down neighborhood anchors. Closing schools in communities of color is unacceptable — especially when the district is only operating at 50% building capacity citywide and long-term enrollment decline is the root issue.
This process is “more challenging than anticipated,” as committee members shared — which is exactly why Buffalo residents need to make their voices heard right now.
The district released an 8-question survey in EIGHT languages, and it’s open to everyone who cares about Buffalo’s students. The deadline is NOVEMBER 17. LINK IN OUR BIO!
Your feedback will directly shape what criteria the committee prioritizes: academics, attendance, enrollment, suspensions, location, community resources, and more. Don’t let others decide the future of our children’s schools without you.
Buffalo: Fill out the survey. Share it. Push your networks. Our kids deserve decisions made with us — not for us.
—----