Our History
Over 125 years of serving the community.
Over 125 years of serving the community.
BFNC was founded by the 1981 merger of two of Buffalo’s oldest settlement houses, Westminster Community House and Neighborhood House Association, founded in 1893 and 1894 respectively.
The settlement houses were formed to address problems of modernizing America – urbanization, immigration, and industrialization.
At this time, Dr. Samuel Van Vranken Holmes of Westminster Presbyterian Church accepted responsibility for the neighborhood surrounding the current Westminster House. On September 17, 1894, Westminster House at 421 Monroe Street officially opened its doors to the community with Miss Emily S. Holmes as head worker.
The work of the NHA was begun in 1894 by Miss Elizabeth Williams, as a worker for the daycare center, and opened a reading room on Goodell St. for area children.
She asked the congregation of her church, Unitarian Church of Our Father, to assist her and several began to help financially and as teachers.
News Articles about the NHA:
Social Worker Says East Side Recalls Woes of Neighborhoods 100 Years Ago
Settlement House Marks a Century of Charity
News Articles about the NHA:
Social Worker Says East Side Recalls Woes of Neighborhoods 100 Years Ago
Settlement House Marks a Century of Charity
The service focus of both Westminster Community House and Neighborhood House Association modified to keep pace with the changing social conditions and problems facing the community. Over the years, the City of Buffalo and some businesses took over certain roles previously occupied by the settlements. in 1912, kindergarten became part of the public school system;
World War I decreased the flow of immigrants into the settlement neighborhoods and later quota legislation’s made the trickle permanent. Meanwhile, the war created job opportunities for African Americans in cities, generating the first significant black migration northward.
Following WWII, many inner-city neighborhoods experienced a major change in population.
In 1981, the Westminster Community House and Heighborhood House Association merged to form the Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers (BFNC). BFNC continues to provide a wide range of services and programs, from after-school and summer daycare to senior care and care for persons with mental and developmental disabilities.