Rural Outreach Center

Our mission is to assist, empower, and elevate the impoverished rural populations in Southern Erie County and the surrounding areas. We serve with compassion, empathy, and respect for all people. For children, our goal is to break the cycle of multi-generational poverty by providing counseling, play therapy, educational opportunities, and programs.

CURRENT PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES: The ROC has unified it’s multi-generational wrap-around programs into three comprehensive programs: U ROC (adults), ROC to the TOP (children’s) and Babies ROC (2019 Pilot). The first step to becoming a ROC Participant is for family members to make a commitment to invest in themselves and to learn new skills. Once emergency needs are met, ROC adult Participants focus on financial stability by taking part in an individualized budget session. Participants then move through ROC programming to ultimately reach financial self-sufficiency. Each path has opportunities and incentives, and each systematically empowers Participants to manage greater independence and financial self-sufficiency as they learn more skills. At the same time, children in ROC to the TOP are working on developing a positive, self-confident, resilient character and completing activities in the academic, social and emotional, health and character domains. A crucial component of all our programs trauma-informed care.

COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS: While many organizations do similar work, the ROC is the only agency providing full wrap-around services for the rural poor in the southern communities of WNY. The ROC works with other organizations (food banks, training programs, etc.) in partnerships and collaborations to ensure the Participants’ needs are fully met and to ensure non-duplication of services. For this program, the ROC is working with Community Connections of NY, Baker Victory Services, school districts and County Departments of Social Services.

LONG-TERM STRATEGIES FOR FUTURE FUNDING: The ROC is experiencing rapid growth as more families living in deep poverty in the rural communities of southern Erie County are hearing about the ROC’s services and, for the first time, have an agency which can fully address their situations.

Through capacity building support grants from CCNY, the Western New York Foundation, the First Niagara Foundation and the Tower Foundation, additional staff and infrastructures have been added. One of the key positions added was that of a fulltime Director of Development, who started in mid-January 2019 and will focus on expanding various income streams. In addition, the ROC leadership is working with Erie County and other government entities on Service Contracts for future years.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: By far, the most important accomplishments were by those ROC served. In 2019, over 150 adult and 70 child Participants actively worked on their goals to transition to self-sufficiency – and many are succeeding. ROC’s team of social workers grew from one FT social worker in 2016 to the present three FT social workers and a case manager to meet the growing demand both in terms of the number of Participants and the complexities and severities of their situations. ROC U launched in March 2018 and Kids ROC in Fall 2018. Last summer 2019 we launched Babies ROC and will continue to expand the program.

We will continue to provide wrap-around care to those living in rural poverty. We are currently being forced to place Participants on waiting lists due to staffing and space restrictions. In response, we have launched a 3.2M capital campaign to build ROC Central and center to support the rural Participants and a center of play. play therapy and Theraplay.