Personal Narrative: The Perry Neighborhood

As a young girl, around the age of 10 I lived in the Perry projects with my mother. Previously to moving there I would visit often to see my great-grandmother. When I would visit my grandmother there were not many other people that were African-American. The Commodore Perry Projects had been actually made for white people. As I grew older, that dynamic changed and so did the neighborhood. When I moved into the neighborhood, the neighborhood seemed to be much different that when I visited my great grandmother. The neighborhood was now predominantly African- American and no longer a thriving neighborhood. The Commodore Perry is one of the oldest projects in Buffalo built in 1940 and extended in 1956. The Perry projects are apart of the BMHA

Much of the poverty level can be blamed on the lack of education in the area. “The education profile of a community is important because it provides insight both into the income earning potential of residents and the labor market barriers residents will likely face.” (BMHA Perry Choice Neighborhood) 94% of the residents in the area only have a high school diploma or less. Twenty-two percent of the city of Buffalo has a Bachelor's degree, while only 10% in the Perry projects. The Perry Neighborhood is surrounded by many job opportunities. “There are about 333 businesses in the community, which employ an estimated 5,000 workers.” (BMHA Perry Choice Neighborhood) The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is also very close to the neighborhood. The Perry neighborhood has many amenities within it, including ten licensed daycare centers and seven schools. Being located very close to the Buffalo Medical Campus, there are two hospitals and several doctor offices in the neighborhood. Without the education, many of these jobs seem to be impossible, the revitalization program has a plan to implement the The Mini-Education Pipeline. “The pipeline is composed of four interactive components and anchored on the basis of a collaborative among the UB Center for Urban Studies, the Buffalo Public School system, Say Yes to Education, Closing the Gap, United Way, Catholic Charities, the Community Action

This would include supportive services. “There are fourteen supportive service agencies operating in the BMHA-PCN, which does not include the services that are provided for the residents of Commodore Perry Homes and Extension. “ (BMHA Perry Choice Neighborhood) Although there are 14 supportive services in the area, many of these programs do not meet the needs for the people in their community. Also, many of these services do not work together, which makes it hard for some who do not have time to go from building to building to give the same information for another program. “Moreover, although these support service agencies are housed in the BMHA-PCN, many draw their clientele from across the city, and/or within the immediate vicinity of their agency, so they do not reach out or market their services to residents across the BMHA-PCN.” (BMHA Perry Choice Neighborhood.”

The Perry Neighborhood faces many struggles before beginning to revitalize. “In 1996 due to high deferred maintenance and repair costs, a HOPE VI grant was used to demolish 304 units. The remaining 25 brick block style three-story walkup and two-story row house buildings have 330 family units with a 50% vacancy rate.” (BMHA Perry Choice Neighborhood) Many of the buildings have little to no value and