Director’s Desk

Greetings Sisters, Brothers, Friends! “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Alleluia!” “’Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what [...]

“There is no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats it’s children.” - Nelson Mandela Dear Members of the WNY Delegation of NYS Assembly & Senate: Happy New Year! I write to challenge you, to call you to task, to make it a happier year for the “Hidden Homeless,” our [...]

January 25, 2012           Re:  Proposed NYS OCFS Budget The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York State NYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 Dear Governor Cuomo, -by statute, the Runaway Homeless Youth Advisory Committee exists for Office of Children & Family Services -for the record the 2011 Annual Report for Runaway Homeless Youth [...]

Fr. Joe and The Franciscan Center was mentioned in the WNY Metro, in an article titled “Humble Father Joe offers light out of the darkness“.

Happy Fall to All. The pumpkins are about to be carved. I have to purchase the “treats” as we usually get a few hundred Trick or Treaters here at the Center; thank goodness we only decorate and give out goodies at one door. It’s usually a big deal for the residents. HAPPY HALLOWEEN. We are [...]

Despite critical cuts from New York State, there are so many good people who keep us afloat, in our care of runaway homeless youth. Among them are THE FRIENDS OF THE FRANCISCAN CENTER, a group of corporate business owners and other professionals, who were linked with us by our dear friend, Jon Williams of Ontario [...]

{From James, the 2010 Recipient +Fr. Patrick Mendola Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Ingram Micro} Before I get to my speech I would like to take a moment to thank all of you for coming out and supporting the TFC … because if it were not for all you and the wonderful staff at the Franciscan center [...]

The following is from our Executive Director of Empire State Coalition of Children & Family Services.  I sit on the Board of Directors.  I support this statement with my heart and soul. “It sounds like it’s too late but we who are in the trenches serving Runaway Homeless Youth must continue the cry as we [...]

{This summary comes from the Empire Coalition of Youth & Family Services, of which I sit on the Board of Directors.} Governor Cuomo has sent a clear message to homeless youth – you are on your own. Governor Cuomo’s budget proposal has eliminated all funding for runaway and homeless youth services. Discrete funding for these [...]

The recent NYS Budget brought major cuts in the Office of Children & Family Services Budget. Overall it is about a 50% cut to the Runaway Homeless Youth line of the budget. Thus, we will lose about 50% of our NYS funding. Needless to say this is critical. This line of funding has continually been [...]