City of Buffalo Unveils New Housing Assistance Program

The City of Buffalo and the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency released details about a new initiative designed to help renters, homeowners, and businesses that have been negatively impacted by Coronavirus.

In a press release, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced the creation of a new program that intends to offer targeted assistance to renters who are behind on their rent, homeowners who are past due on their mortgages, and small businesses who have been struggling since the pandemic started in March of last year.

The program, named STAND UP Buffalo, stands for the Small Business, Tenants and Neighborhood Development Underwriting Program. It will be administered by the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) in partnership with a slew of nonprofit agencies in Buffalo.

For almost a year now, Buffalo’s residents and small businesses have had to find innovative ways to cope with the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the guidelines that have been put in place to help slow the spread. Today’s announcement of a new set of assistance programs will help our City’s tenants, homeowners, and entrepreneurs access the resources they need to continue operating during these difficult circumstances and give people the hope they need as the vaccine becomes more widely accessible and the end of the pandemic’s restrictions are within sight.
-Byron Brown, Mayor of Buffalo

The City has set aside around $11 million for this program. Some of the services that will be available will include Eviction Prevention, Foreclosure Prevention, Fair Housing Assistance, Rental and Owner Housing Repair, along with Microenterprise Assistance.

With the funding that has been set aside, officials expect to be able to assist around 2,000 residents with the STAND UP Buffalo program.

When we hear STAND UP Buffalo it evokes a call to action to show the resilience of our community and how we bring our collective resources together to face the many challenges of COVID-19
-Thomas Beauford, President and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League

Residents and business owners will be able to start applying for this new initiative beginning Monday, February 8th. People can contact 211, 311, the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency, or via one of the partner agencies. There is a process to find out what you qualify for, so when you contact these agencies they will ask a series of intake questions to see what you are eligible for, from there you would be directed to the appropriate place for assistance.

The organizations that have partnered with the City of Buffalo are 211 of WNY, Belmont Housing Resources of WNY, Buffalo Urban League, Catholic Charities, Center for Elder Law and Justice, Col. Matt Urban Center, Heart of the City Neighborhoods, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Neighborhood Legal Services, Old First Ward Center, Restoration Society, University District Community Development Association, and Westminster Economic Development Initiative.