Buffalo Rising Online

Jan 10th, 4:06pm By Elena Cala Buscarino

Margaret "Peg" Overdorf knows how to bring a community together. As Executive Director of The Valley Community Association for since 1979, Overdorf sees that the VCA offers programs to everyone from infants to seniors.

Born in Buffalo's First Ward, Overdorf's aim is to bring different sections of this geographical part of the city together through the VCA. "I live in the same house I was born into 53 years ago, just down the street from the house my great grandfather, Laurence Collins built 150 years ago," Overdorf said. Original settlers of the neighborhood found work as scoopers (of grain), longshoremen, railroad men or steel millers. They were not afraid of handwork like their ancestors before who helped dig the Erie Canal.

Various neighborhoods within the ward included Unionstown, Hakertown, Time's Beach, Rogues Hollow, and eventually the Valley, which became an entity of its own. Beyond that, many who grew up in this geographical location of southeast Buffalo commonly refer to their family's Catholic parish or school they attended when asked where they're from. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Saint Brigid's, Saint Stephen's and Saint Valentine's were the churches in the area. Overdorf admits that the residents of The Valley, The First Ward and South Buffalo may be somewhat territorial.

While this may look like segregation or exclusion to those outside of this part of the city, it was the resident's penchant for community belonging and the belief that they must take care of their own first that caused them to declare loyalty to their own corner of the world. In that vein of thinking, if yesterday's parish has become today's block club or association, one can see Overdorf's commitment to the VCA for the vocation that it is.

Overdorf is expert at garnering the cooperation, grants, labor and participation she needs to enhance the VCA and the lives of its users in a constant evolution of growth and amenities. The VCA, standing within a mixed residential/industrial area that encompasses one square mile, serves not only neighborhood residents but many whose families have roots in the community from years past by providing programs for seniors, youth and families. In addition they operate Valley Child Care on Leddy Street and at the Larkin at Exchange Building for infants through preschoolers.

The VCA has existed in some form since 1969, when it was founded through the efforts of Fr. Hugh Carmichael and a group of volunteers in answer to the need to give neighborhood children a constructive and adult-monitored outlet for their energies. Once funds had been raised, and the center (named after Fr. Carmichael) had been built and was about to open, the city stepped in and said that the center would operate under the Parks Department with civil service staff. This was unacceptable to the founders, who had worked so hard to make it a reality, and they left the building, going to a donated storefront on South Park until they were able to lease a storefront on Elk Street through county funding. With help from the United Way, the VCA purchased the building on Elk Street, and then through a 1982 takeover, finally found their way back to their present location at 93 Leddy.

It was 1988 before the group was back in the Fr. Carmichael Center, completing a 19-year cycle with a $300K addition under the leadership of Mayor James D. Griffin and adopting the name of Valley Senior Citizen Center. “I think we have accomplished a lot over the years, but we have so much more to do! I can look back over old strategic plans and check off many things," Overdorf said. As much as she likes giving to the community, the community responds in kind. People see what Overdorf is doing and naturally want to help.

Overdorf has been instrumental in the advent of several events to promote community participation, neighborhood solidarity and ethnic pride. Begun in 1994, the "Old Neighborhood" St. Patrick's Day Parade is an authentic history and heritage trip through this Irish-settled neighborhood and is a favorite among people who grew up in the area. The Buffalo River Fest, begun in 2001, was designed to be a fundraiser for the CVA and draws attention to the riverfront that helped to grow this community.

In her ever-constant mission of developing, restoring and creating anew, Overdorf recently procured abandoned portable classrooms from the East Side of Buffalo, which are being put in place courtesy of various local labor unions, companies and foundations who are invested in the VCA. "The guys who moved these and put them together said these were very well made," Overdorf said. The two that have already been attached to the building look fantastic and will provide some valuable space to the after school program in addition to the gymnasium.

"Two child care centers have been built and operate successfully, and a classroom addition is nearly complete to welcome 50 more youth (on a waiting list) into the after school program. We're about to begin the design phase of the construction of the new Buffalo River Historic District Park that will offer public access to our much underutilized river," according to Overdorf.

Peg's Riverside Park is on the way also. The 2.5-acre parcel on Ohio Street will hold several amenities: docks, gardens, trails, an amphitheater and boardwalk. But it's this penchant of Overdorf 's for building things, one brick, one parcel, one modular unit at a time that's made everything she touches in the valley of the First Ward better and brighter. According to Overdorf, "The community has been very supportive and I’m confident that we will continue to grow."