WNY Women's Foundation Out of School Time (OST) Initiative

 

In Buffalo, women are the dominant face of poverty in a region with some of the highest poverty rates in the nation.

• Teen pregnancy continues to derail thousands of young girls every year in WNY.
• Women are increasingly raising children on their own, and doing so while living in poverty.
• Women are on the front lines of society's balancing act of work and family, and are far from parity in leadership roles.

 

To address this, the WNY Women's Foundation created a task force whose members include representatives from the Buffalo Public Schools, Erie County Department of Social Services - Youth Services Division, out of school time provider agencies, the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County and the Buffalo Museum of Science.

 From that task force the Pathways to Progress Out of School Time Initiative (OST) was created based on a highly successful model from Providence Rhode Island called the Providence After School Alliance.  The goal of the Pathways OST Initiative is that all Buffalo students will have the opportunity to attend a quality out-of-school time program and that all out of school time providers will follow universal program quality standards and offer a wide array of enrichment and learning opportunities.

 

We are very excited to announce the launch of the OST Initiative!