PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 21st, 2014 Contact: Executive Director, Rev. Anne P. Paris Email: AnnePrs@yahoo.com Mobile: 716.829.9213

Womens Shelter in Jeopardy of Closing

Private donations temporarily keep utilities from being turned off as deep cuts in county funding jeopardizes future of Paradise House on Buffalos East Side
(Buffalo) - Local leaders from the private and public sector called on the Erie County Department
of Social Services to restore funding to Paradise House, a critically important family-based halfway house serving poor women that allows them to transition successfully from incarceration to law abiding taxpayers. The non-profit corporation, located at 144 Mills Street in the City of Buffalo has served women and their families since 1993. They received emergency private sector donations to keep utilities on this week and to pay a past due gas bill of $2,500. We need Erie County to restore funding. For 20 years Paradise House received a steady stream of revenue from the Department of Social Services. Over the past two decades, Erie County recognized that their organization saved taxpayers money. I will lead the fight in the Legislature to fund this worthwhile hallway-house, said Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams. Paradise House can serve up to 30 women at a time. It provides a safe and supportive environment for women to be with their families while undergoing intensive drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs. Intensive counseling is available, in addition to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, meditation sessions, and Bible study, along with personal and spiritual support groups. Our noble mission keeps women from returning to prison, gets them jobs, and turns them into taxpayers. If Erie County does not fund Paradise House the way they have for 20 years, there will be no safety net for these women. Studies show their recidivism rate will be very high. Already overburdened taxpayers will have to pay ten times as much if these women return to our overcrowded prisons, said Paradise House Executive Director Anne Paris. Over the past two years the Erie County Department of Social Services slashed funding for Paradise House from $670 per month/per resident to only $170 per month/per resident. An outstanding gas bill totaling $2,500 almost forced the shelter to go without heat. Local attorney Peter Reese solicited private sector donations to pay the bill. We are deeply grateful to those who helped keep utilities on at Paradise House this week. Unfortunately, this is just a temporary Band-Aid. We need Erie County to step up and support women in need. Erie County is being penny wise and pound foolish by not protecting taxpayers and showing compassion for the poor and less fortunate, said Reese.
### www.paradisehouseny.org