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The 2024 election cycle in the Erie County includes key federal, state, and local races. While the Presidential election has been at the forefront of most people's attention, the outcome of state and local races, in addition to ballot measures have the potential to profoundly impact our daily lives across Erie County. We break down which races will be on Erie County residents' ballots this November, your voting rights, and additional resources to support you in making your decision in who to vote for and what to do if you run into barriers.

By providing a safe and structured environment for young people during late hours, the Midnight Basketball aimed to reduce crime rates, risk taking behaviors, and it aimed to improve overall community well-being.

In a conference room on a rainy Saturday afternoon, freshly trained volunteers are hitting the phones to remind people to vote in the general elections this November. But getting people to engage with the issue of voting can be tricky. Several of the call-handlers are getting cut off by those on the other end of the line when they raise the subject.

Voice Buffalo has a weekly Midnight Basketball League. The league meets every Thursday in August from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Resource Council of Western New York on East Ferry Street. People between the ages of 14 and 25 can shoot some hoops for free.

WBFO shares their first installment of a new series of profiles of leaders in the disability community, called “Voices of Disability Pride.” Each profile is a chance to hear about someone’s personal advocacy journey, the skills that helped them succeed and what advice they have for people new to the disability community. This installment highlights Michael Rogers, a prominent self-advocate in Buffalo and Regional Organizer for the Self Advocacy Association of New York State.

Voice Buffalo is combating gun violence on Buffalo's East Side by reintroducing the Midnight Basketball League summer program. The program is designed to keep young people safe by giving them something to do. It is for those ages 14 to 25 years old.

Members of VOICE Buffalo recently urged the Common Council to allocate funding to provide more Black safe community spaces for city youth. There are a number of youth community centers owned by the city or the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority on the predominantly Black East Side, including the Martha Mitchell and the Delavan-Grider community centers, as well as the Lincoln Memorial Field House.

We are thrilled to share an important update with our cherished community. As we continue to grow and achieve new heights, it's crucial that our leadership team evolves to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. It is with great enthusiasm that we announce the promotion of Tyrell Ford to the role of Executive Director.

The Daniel’s Law Coalition is celebrating a $2 million allocation in the state Senate and Assembly’s one house budget bills for a pilot program that will change the response to people experiencing mental health or substance use crises.

It's a taillight party to help the community stop overzealous policing. So we see a lot of this around the country where sometimes traffic stops turn into something more than it should be. And it isn't that just a thing with policing it is a thing around our coalition, which is to end qualified immunity, which is basically to hold folks in elected positions accountable for their actions against just the regular day citizens.

Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with Dontaya Davis and Alia Williams, community organizers for Voice Buffalo. The two are working locally to boost the Ebony Alert system, a new initiative to prioritize missing and exploited Black youth, who are disproportionately represented in missing children reports.

We are pleased to share our VOICE Buffalo 2023 recap. We are setting out to achieve great things in 2024 as we recommit ourselves to base building, organizing around relevant issues, and empowering our community's voices through leadership building and education.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz is requesting $185.5 million from the legislature with a $31.5 million increase for the Erie County Sheriff's Office budget this upcoming year. "Invest that in our futures. Invest that in our community," Alia Williams, organizer at VOICE Buffalo, said. "It's no secret that investment in youth programming increases the quality of life of our young people, of our families and our community as a whole."

After years of organizing by directly-impacted leaders, the Clean Slate Act(S7551A /A1029C) was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul on November 16th, 2023. The act goes into effect on November 16th, 2024 and will affect 2.3 million New Yorkers allowing them to finally have the opportunity to thrive.

Check out our photo gallery of Trunk or Treat 2023. Thank you to our event sponsors and everyone who made this event a fun time!

Organizers of Voice Buffalo are on a mission to better the relationship between parents and their children so they don’t go missing. Voice Buffalo put together a group session for fathers to bring them together and highlight the awareness of being present in a child's life.

"This is what peace looks like" was just one of the many chants that filled the streets of Buffalo today during the March to End Gun Violence. Community partners and neighbors gathered together to honor the lives lost to gun violence.

VOICE Buffalo will hold a candidates forum for those running for Buffalo Common Council seats in East Side communities. Organizers said the aim of the event was "to foster open dialogue and provide a space to better understand the candidates’ stance on community issues."

The Campaign to End Qualified Immunity, Edifye, VOICE Buffalo, VOCAL NY, End QI NY, and Americans Against Qualified Immunity are giving back to East Buffalo.The organizations hosted a block party at Bethel AME Church on Michigan Saturday offering free grocery distribution, a visit from University of Buffalo athletes, a community engagement speaker, and brake light check and repair.

For some people, it's hard to believe tragedy struck Buffalo a year ago. Others feel it just happened. As May 14 approaches, emotions are running high. On a day when community members should be celebrating their mothers, they instead are left with the scars of that day and the pain a gunman has caused.