Settlement House Roots

BFNC was founded by the 1981 merger of two of Buffalo's oldest settlement houses, Westminster Community House and Neighborhood House Association, founded in 1893 and 1894 respectively.

The settlement houses were formed to address problems of a modernizing America - urbanization, immigration, and industrialization. Buffalo had doubled in size in less than two decades. More people meant more houses, more school children, more poverty, more crime, and more demands on existing charitable institutions. For many, Buffalo's non-English speaking immigrants became the scapegoats for all the ills of late-nineteenth-century America.

During the Panic of 1893, the Charity Organization of Buffalo called a meeting of local churches to discuss ways and means of providing for the needy. The Charity Organization Society's Church Districting Plan divided the city into districts. Each church gained oversight of the needy families in one or more of the districts.

The Founding of Westminster Community House

At this time, Dr. Samuel Van Vranken Holmes of Westminster Presbyterian Church accepted responsibility for the district containing Monroe Street (the neighborhood surrounding the current Westminster House). On September 17, 1894, Westminster House at 421 Monroe Street officially opened its doors to the community with Miss Emily S. Holmes as head worker.

Activities included a free Kindergarten, a sewing school, boys and girls clubs, a Penny Poor Fund, a Mothers Meeting (Housekeepers Club), the Men's Social Science Club, a Relief Department, district nursing care, and friendly visiting. It later added a gymnasium, a billiard room, and a reading room with library. In 1910, a new clubhouse was built on the original site and still stands today as the Westminster Community House.

Neighborhood House Association: The Early Years

The work of the Neighborhood House Association was begun in 1894 by Miss Elizabeth Williams, as a worker for the Fitch Creche (Day Care) Center. Miss Williams opened a reading room on Goodell Street for area children.

She asked the congregation of the Unitarian Church of Our Father (of which she was a member) to assist her, and several began to help financially and as teachers of classes. In 1894 a larger flat on Hickory Street was rented. In a short time the flat was comfortably furnished and kitchen, garden, sewing, reading and educational classes were formed. After four years on Hickory Street, a large house on Locust Street (#92) was opened in 1898. The Neighborhood House further changed locations to the corner of Oak and Goodell Streets in 1902, 682 Oak Street in 1924, and its current location of 76 Orange Street in 1954.

On October 21, 1902, the Neighborhood House Association, with Adelbert Moot as one of the directors, became incorporated with the following mission:

The object of the association is to carry on settlement work and thus contribute to the moral, mental, and physical improvement of mankind; to maintain a neighborhood house for educational and social purposes; to carry comfort and good cheer to unfortunates; to help the needy by enabling them to help themselves; to study social problems by personal contact and intimate acquaintance with the needs of the people and by giving personal sympathy and encouragement, assist somewhat in raising the plane of human life.

Adapting to Change: 1912-1940

The service focus of both Westminster Community House and Neighborhood House Association modified to keep pace with the changing social conditions and problems facing the community. Over the years, the City of Buffalo and some businesses took over certain roles previously occupied by the settlements. In 1912, kindergarten became part of the Buffalo Public School System; by 1917, social service agencies took over the supervision of the poor of the city and settlement Relief Departments were closed; and in 1922, Westminster Penny Provident Bank was discontinued.

The settlements, however, continued many of their traditional programs, became more involved in Boy Scouts and Camp Fire Girl organizations while developing new programs to respond to emerging needs.

Buffalo: A city in Transition…1940's through 1970's

World War I decreased the flow of immigrants into the settlement neighborhoods and later quota legislation's made the trickle permanent. Meanwhile, the war created job opportunities for African Americans in cities, generating the first significant black migration northward.

Following World War II, many inner city neighborhoods experienced a major change in population. Federal programs, such as FHA home mortgage insurance and the GI Bill helped finance the move to better-off inner city whites to the suburbs. Congress, in 1949, passed the Housing Act to try to counteract some of these emerging problems and began a major program of urban renewal and public projects.

In Buffalo, east side neighborhoods were in a state of transition. The 1957 Annual Report for Neighborhood House notes high population movement, overcrowding, property deterioration, violation of the housing code and unrest among the residents. In response, a neighborhood improvement committee was established to discuss the problems of the neighborhood, including the impact of the proposed Kensington Expressway Project, to sponsor meetings with city and county planning and redevelopment officials, and to facilitate block organizations of indigenous leaders.

As more African Americans found their home in Buffalo's east side neighborhoods, Westminster Community House and Neighborhood House Association began to accept the desire and need to empower the "new" neighbors through changed leadership, staffing and programming. The social change function of settlement houses was once again being emphasized.

The Creation of BFNC…1981 and Beyond

In 1981, the Westminster Community House and Neighborhood House Association merged to form the Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers (BFNC). BFNC continues to provide a wide range of services and programs, from after-school and summer day care to senior care and care for persons with mental and developmental disabilities. We remain ever mindful of our mission to "work with people to prepare, equip, and empower them to realize their fullest potential."

Written by Laurie Evangelista