Courtesy of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
If you’ve driven up Michigan Avenue near Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in the last few months, you might have noticed a lot of activity at 907 Michigan, a historic light green house built in 1878 that the Fruit Belt community fought long and hard to keep standing.
In partnership with Roswell Park, New York state, the Fruit Belt Coalition, Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, and support of Governor Kathy Hochul and New York state Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples Stokes, this brand-new community building is now open. It provides a unified office location for Roswell Park’s Community Outreach and Engagement teams and a new space for neighbors to gather.
Designed by RiShawn Sonubi and Matthew Cummings of Young + Wright Architectural, the building combines modern and historical touches, from floor-to-ceiling glass to a window-lined corridor connecting it to the preserved house, and custom-designed wallpaper featuring buildings of historical and cultural significance to the Buffalo’s African American community.
Nikia Clark, Roswell Park’s Senior Community Outreach and Engagement Manager, said, “We’ve never really been easily reachable within the halls of Roswell Park. People didn’t know we existed as an office. Being forward-facing, public-facing, and in the community is big. The new space enhances all of our programs, providing us with the ability and availability to invite people in to engage with them in more one-on-one conversations.”
While there isn’t any clinical space inside the new facility, people can stop in and get information on cancer screenings, determine their eligibility for screenings, and work with a patient care navigator to make appointments if needed. Patient navigators can also walk with people down to the main Roswell Park facility for assistance.
“The building has available computers for anyone who wants to stop in and look up cancer information, learn about or apply for jobs, write resumes, or take care of other needs,” Clark says. It is an extension of the work already performed in the community by the Roswell Park Community Alliance to Reach, Empower and Sustain (CARES) program, a grant initiative that includes building a 2,000-square-foot computer center and the reconstruction and improvement of the Seneca Babcock Community Association to create a pre-school and afterschool childcare and recreation facility.
The newly opened facility brings under one roof Roswell Park’s existing outreach groups. This includes The Witness Project, which goes door-to-door throughout many Buffalo neighborhoods, including the Fruit Belt and the city’s East Side, passing out healthcare information and helping people access cancer screenings, and Esperanza y Vida, a Spanish-language outreach program. “This doesn’t decrease the amount of time we will go out into the community,” Clark reassures. “We see this spot as the social capital building, and a community space that can be used by organizations that aren’t part of Roswell Park. It is our way to give back to the community. It’s free, and we’re never going to charge people to use it. The community room has all the technology, all the audio-visual components needed for meetings.”
See https://www.roswellpark.org/research/community-outreach-engagement to learn more about the Community Outreach & Engagement team and the programs and services they provide.
