SENECA STREET COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

Our Kids in Motion Programming gives students opportunities to be active through GoGirl!Go, Girls on the Run and Boys on the Move. We also allow free play on the playground and in the gym.

Girls on the Run is a character building program for 3rd through 5th grade girls. It teaches them about positive self image, coping mechanisms, teamwork and goal setting. All of the lessons incorporate running and the curriculum culminates with a 5k fun run.

The Seneca Street Teen Program is both an after school program and outreach mission. Teens receive homework assistance and dinner Monday through Thursday, and on Fridays they destress together as the only group in the building. During the summer, teens have the option to take part in the Mayor Summer Youth Program where they work at Summer @ Seneca Street, acting as leaders for the younger kids. As part of this program, they also take part in a Job Readiness program.

Fundraisers
The teens fundraise to go on trips and outings. In the past, our teens have baked goods for the Clarence Apple Fest, hosted Spaghetti dinners, and transformed the church into a Halloween haunted house for kids in the neighborhood.

Our third program is Summer at Seneca Street. Once the school year ends our fun and educational summer program begins! During July and August, when school is out, we offer six weeks of programming. Four of those six weeks typically consist of several enriching activities that might include crafts, guest speakers, cooking, etc. all revolving around the theme of the week.

On the Thursday of each week, children are taken on a field trip that is tied to the theme of the week. The other two weeks during the summer consist of our annual Reading Camp. During the Reading Camp students rotate though various academic stations including a reading and writing stations, taught by certified teachers. Students also do other activities such as cooking, arts and crafts, science, etc. After completing the two week long Reading Camp, the students earn a backpack filled with the following year’s school supplies. All of our programming offered at Seneca Street CDC is FREE of charge.”

Beginning on March 7, 2016, five students from the Seneca Street CDC After School/Team Programs enrolled in a Recyle-A-Bike Program partnered with GoBike Buffalo.

For twice a week for six weeks, the students learned how to deconstruct and rebuild a bike. This provided them with the skills to fix their own bike if they should ever need repairs.

At the end of the program, the students kept their bikes and received a bike lock, helmet and bike lights.

The lessons they received coordinated with Common Core Curriculum, connecting their schoolwork to practical skills.

The Recycle-A-Bike program was held again in the Summer @ Seneca in 2016 with a new set of excited and eager students.

If you are interested in assisting with this program, please consider donating to cover our program fees.

The Seneca Street Community Garden is located just a few houses down from the CDC. Each year the children plant and grow vegetables through After School and Summer @ Seneca Street programming. Not only does the garden bring beauty to the area, but shows the children where food comes from. Other community members take care of their own their own plots and grow vegetables of their choosing.

What makes the Seneca Street Garden special than any other is that there are no costs involved. There is no fee for reserving a plot, seedlings and soil are provided, and we have knowledgeable Master Gardeners from Cornell Cooperative Extension for advice and guidance on maintaining a successful garden.

We are gearing up for a great growing season in the Seneca Babcock Community Garden! This year, with the help of Grassroots Gardens and Independent Health, we were able to rebuild all 13 raised garden beds, replacing the cinder blocks with cedar boards. The leftover cinder blocks will be used to create art projects in the children’s garden and build a composting system.

This year, we are partnering with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardeners who will be using two plots to test plants in an urban environment. These experts will be available to answer questions and provide guidance to other gardeners.

The Seneca Babcock Community Garden was one of four gardens in Buffalo to be selected for a special project through the Just Buffalo Literary Center, Read/Seed/Write campaign. Throughout the summer, a resident writer will work with students in the children’s garden on writing and art projects in the garden space. There will also be projects in the memorial garden, a bed of perennial flowers for community members to remember loved ones who have passed on too soon.

The remaining plots have all been reserved by community members. There is no charge to reserve a plot in the garden and Seneca Street CDC provides seedlings and the tools needed to maintain the space. Gardeners have the responsibility of taking care of their plot and signing up to water plants. Taking care of a plot means that residents of the Seneca Babcock community are able to produce their own fresh, healthy food, a rare opportunity in this food desert that has only a corner store selling processed foods.