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NFTA Presents Sounds of the Season for Noteworthy Cause

On Friday, December 14, the NFTA will kick off its holiday Sounds of the Season program at 8:30 a.m. in the MTC terminal with a unique entertainment extravaganza presented by Akron High School’s marching band.

There will be a brief presentation at 10:00AM  in support of this year’s “noteworthy cause” that will include representatives from the NFTA, Buffalo Public Schools, the Food Bank of WNY, and the Matt Urban Hope Center. The event will culminate with a special musical performance by the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and a complementary hot chocolate reception.

The Sounds of the Season lunchtime musical performances at 181 Ellicott Street will continue throughout the week of December 17-21 at 11:30 a.m. each day. Guests are invited to bring a can of soup or a new pair of socks to donate to the Matt Urban Hope Center or the Food Bank of WNY.

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Buffalo Urban League Homebuyer Seminar

The Buffalo Urban League, in partnership with the City of Buffalo, Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, and Evans Bank, will host a first time homebuyer orientation at the Matt Urban Center on Thursday, December 13 from 6:00-7:00 p.m.
The class will include an overview of the home buying process, how to apply for a mortgage, tax benefits, credit repair and counseling, budgeting and more. The guest speaker will be Liz Blazely.
The class is free and open to the public, but you must register by calling (716) 250-2418. Please notify organizers in advance if you require special accommodations.
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From Big To Small

Join UB School of Architecture & Planning, Broadway Fillmore Alive and Buffalo’s Young Preservationists for a pop-up exhibition of drawings documenting Buffalo’s most curious vernacular: the telescope houses of the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood.
From the front, it’s a simple worker’s cottage—a one-and-a-half -story, gable-fronted, clapboard house. Yet from the side, a charming surprise is revealed—a series of successive additions, each one stepping down in scale from the last—big to small.
This fall, thirteen graduate students from the University at Buffalo studied the telescope houses of Broadway-Fillmore through drawing. Their work celebrates the houses and their peculiarities as a means to reveal stories of human life, occupation, and adaptation through time, and to promote greater discussion around the history, people, and architecture of Buffalo’s East Side.
Where: Adam Mickiewicz Library and Dramatic Circle, 612 Fillmore Avenue
When: December 14, 2018: 6;00-9:00 p.m.
Admission: Free & open to public, cash bar
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Thanks to our friends at the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus!

We want to give a shoutout to our friends at the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus for their support in helping us serve the needy this winter!
On Sunday, November 25, the BPC performed Handel’s Messiah at the Our Lady of Victory Basilica to a sold out audience. Each year, the chorus chooses a group or cause to collect donations for as part of this performance, and this year they selected our agency’s Homeless Outreach team. Their efforts generated over $1,100 in funding to help us serve the underserved in Buffalo.
A sincere thank you to the BPC and their patrons for their generosity this holiday season!
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MUC Staff Featured in The Buffalo News

Photo credit: The Buffalo News
The life story of our very own community health worker, Tasha Moore, was featured in an article in The Buffalo News last weekend. The piece examines “The Welfare Trap” and how the system’s current design often traps recipients in a state of dependency, rather than helping them attain self-sufficiency.
Tasha, who now holds a bachelor’s degree and is working toward her master’s, hopes to one day work in public policy and help bring positive change to this system.
Read the article here.
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Welcome Our New Hope Center Director!

We’re very excited to introduce our new Hope Center Director, Kevin Glover, who started his new position there this week.

Kevin had previously held the position of Site Coordinator at Polonia Hall for our Youth Department.

We look forward to the leadership he’ll bring in his new position at the Hope Center. Congrats, Kevin!

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Raising a Glass to a Good Cause

The Sultans of Swig Home Brewers Club and Buffalo Iron Works sponsored the 4th Annual “Santas of Swig” homebrewing competition and fundraiser on December 1 to benefit our Hope Center. There was a great turnout as folks lined up to sample beers from 20 different homebrewers and cast their vote for the best brew.
Guests generously donated a carload of toys for our Hope Center’s Christmas Giveaway and raised nearly $3,000 for our programs. A huge thank you to our friends at the Sultans of Swig, Buffalo Iron Works, and everyone who came out to participate and support our agency!
Happy Holidays!