News and Media

In this article, school wellness advocate Jessica Bauer Walker, director of child nutrition services Ruth Conner, and Chief Operating Officer David Hills celebrate this milestone in providing students healthy, fresh, and culturally appropriate meals.

(June 23, 2025)

In this article, Jessica Bauer Walker and her daughter Serea Walker explain the importance of providing safe, healing spaces for youth, where they can explore their culture, identity, and history, as well as engage intergenerationally.

(June 19, 2025)

In this special programming honoring the May 14th Tops Massacre, Dennice Barr, social justice organizer, and Serea Walker and Freebirth Omoigui, Youth Community Health Workers, join Jillian Hanesworth and Ekua Mends-Aidoo to discuss life in Buffalo post-5/14, and the importance of intergenerational dialogue.

(May 16, 2025)

January 20, 2025, funds allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act, including a $20 million Community Change Grant which was awarded to PUSH Buffalo, CoNECT as a statutory partner, and various other local partners, were frozen by an executive order. On March 6, a federal district court judge ruled that freezing the funds may be illegal, but they have yet to be unfrozen, leaving the most vulnerable communities in Buffalo without vital protections in case of disaster, and many local organizations without crucial funding.

(March 22, 2025)

A $20 million was awarded to PUSH Buffalo, CoNECT as a statuatory partner, and many other local organizations via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Change Grants Program funded under the Inflation Reduction Act. The grant allows for the creation of “neighborhood mobilization hubs,” where community leaders will be trained in emergency response tactics and have access to equipment to help keep communities safe during extreme weather events, like the 2022 Christmas Blizzard.

(December 17, 2024)

In this WBFO segment, Jay Moran sits down with Jessica Bauer Walker, a Community Health Worker and a Buffalo Public Schools parent, and Sam White, Supervising Attorney for the School Discipline Project at Western New York Law Center. The three discuss the Buffalo Suspension Coalition and a recent report on suspensions from Buffalo Public Schools. For our second segment, Guest Host Jillian Hanesworth sits down with Jessica and Rehma Kashindi, a Youth Community Health Worker, to discuss suspensions from the perspective of a BPS student.

(November 20, 2024)

Local advocates sat down with WIVB News 4 on Monday to call for solutions rather than suspensions as they say Buffalo Public Schools has one of the highest suspension rates in New York State. Co-chair of the BPS Community Health Worker Parent and Student Association Jessica Bauer Walker says parents and students alike have called on the schools to lower the suspension rates and shift from a punitive system to a restorative system. Fellow co-chair and student Rehma Kashindi says there is miscommunication between teachers and students. Instead of being able to grow, students are just sent home, she said.

(October 28, 2024)

Representatives from the New York Civil Liberties Union, CoNECT, the WNY Law Center, the Community Action Organization’s WNY Educational Equity Task Force, district Parent Congress leaders, University at Buffalo School of Law and others briefly discussed where they believe Buffalo Schools is falling short in its punitive discipline model and urged further growth in restorative practices.

(October 28, 2024)

Thomas O’Neil-White hosted a Buffalo Public Schools roundtable discussion, which featured conversations on educational opportunity gaps, student mental health, and safety across all campuses. This show features parent leaders and Community Health Workers Jessica Bauer Walker, Danielle Grzymala, and Ed Speidel, as well as student Community Health Workers Shannon Morgan and Rehma Kashindi.

(September 16, 2024)

Hutch Tech Senior Rehma Kashindi said, "This isn't something that's talked about in the classroom but it directly impacts students and says it's important that they know too." Kashindi said, "We've been having a lot of discourse in the Buffalo Public Schools commissary issue, and this is mainly just to get more information so that we can have accurate information so that we're spreading to our communities."

(September 12, 2024)

Parent and student Community Health Workers urge district to prioritize the commissary project and address pressing need for improved school food. They also emphasize why access to nutritious food is so important for student wellness.

(June 24, 2024)

Parent leaders emphasize the need for improved collaboration, oversight, and communication from the Buffalo Public School district and the City of Buffalo as stalled plans for new commissary face further delays.

(June 23, 2024)