Overseer Michael Chapman, pastor of St. John Baptist and Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Churches, its affiliate Corporations (Two Churches, Two Campuses, One Village) and CEO of the Buffalo Black Billion LLC, passionately told more than 100 residents Friday “The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus should end this lawsuit so we can begin our project to bring 220 affordable housing units” to the Fruit Belt. Rendering of McCarley Gardens Phase II building of apartments and retail space on the ground floor Overseer Chapman and his Executive Team have been negotiating with the BNMC to have the Buffalo Black Billion’s McCarley Gardens Phase II project started. …
Author: Michael J. Billoni
Minister Ina Chapman, left, and Pastor/Overseer Michael Chapman | Photos provided by Gethsemane Baptist Church Overseer/Pastor Michael Chapman of Gethsemane and St. John Baptist Church (Two Churches, Two Campuses, One Village) and his wife, Minister Ina Chapman donated $250,000 from WECGOD II (We Educate Communities Globally on Disparities) to the renovation fund of the Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church during a press conference Friday morning in front of the oldest, historical preservation site in the Fruit Belt on Grape Street Opened in 1874, this $1.4 million restoration project was prepared by the Clinton Brown Company Architecture, PC of Buffalo, known for…
Pastor Eric Johns was surprised and excited to see his dear friend, Keith “Shoes” Cauley, slowly make his way into the Buffalo Dream Center at 286 Lafayette Avenue in West Buffalo for service last Sunday morning, the day before Eric and his team would begin its 25th anniversary of “Living on The Streets” of Buffalo for one week. Cauley has been sick and was just released from the hospital two days earlier but told Pastor Johns, “I had to be here today. It is the day before you head onto the streets and are homeless for a week. I had…
A good friend, Sammy Violante, aka “Sammy V” jumped out of bed at 4:00 a.m. Sunday ready to go for the 50th home opener for the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park. It was his Christmas morning in the early fall. When the stadium opened in 1973 as Rich Stadium, Sammy was there as a season ticket holder with his best friend, Jimmy Nydahl. Jimmy, whom Sammy touted as the greatest Bills fan of all-time, has since passed but Sammy remains a season ticket holder with Jimmy’s kids, Andrew and Hanna, and they still sit a dozen rows behind the Bills…
I am disgusted with reports of recent developments in the city where I was born and have spent my career promoting the City of Great Neighbors. Reports like: Recent stories of Elmwood Village business owners thinking about closing because of shoplifting. New “public art displays” of graffiti on bridges, park benches, and walls supporting the highways. News reports of more than 2,000 cars being stolen with Police now finding repeat offenders who are getting caught and released yet again. The safety for all those who walk, run, and bike throughout our beautiful Delaware Park after a woman was accosted last…
Entrepreneur and Doctor of Ministry is closing in on “The Prize of a Lifetime” In many ways, East Amherst’s Lisa Christie can be described as Western New York’s Wonder Woman. Just listening to what this entrepreneur, wife, mother, and grandmother does on a regular basis leads one to wonder just how she does it. A deeply spiritual Christian, Christie is an ordained Doctor of Ministry, a professional singer, model, actor, and a former Mrs. America (1997-98), Mrs. New York 1997, and Mrs. New York United States (2011 & 2013). She also is a: National fitness expert Author Television and radio host A Certified Personal…
Dinorah E. Santos, the public relations and communication director at the Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute, was introduced at a Colvin Cleaners Gowns for Prom press conference earlier this week by Casimiro Rodriquez, President Emeritus/Founder of the Hispanic Heritage Council of Western New York. He spoke in praise of this unique program of offering free prom gowns to high school students in need from the stage of the historic Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo’s Theatre District. Casimiro Rodriquez, president emeritus\founder of Hispanic Heritage Council. “If it wasn’t for Gowns for Prom, Dinorah and so many other young ladies would never…
With the holiday season upon us, Dewitt Lee, founder of St. Brian Clothiers, Michael Norwood of the Buffalo Black Billion, Casimiro Rodriguez of the Hispanic Heritage Council, and Christopher Billoni of Colvin Cleaners have joined forces to create the inaugural “Suit Up for the Holidays” free men’s clothing giveaway. Men will be allowed to select one item on Sunday, December 19 from 1-3 p.m. and Monday, December 20 from noon-6 p.m. until the supply is depleted, inside the Rev. Dr. Bennett W. Smith, Sr. Family Life Center, 833 Michigan Ave. in the Fruit Belt community of East Buffalo. Dewitt Lee…
Of the thousands of Bills’ Backers who ventured to this Mid-Western city for the National Football League’s Game of the Year on Sunday between the Chiefs and Bills, I may have been the only one there for other reasons than the game. Sure, I attended my first road game as a true Bills Backer—an honorary member of the 417 Bills Mafia, founded by Matt Puccio, a former Buffalo Bisons photography intern in 1989-90 when I was the club’s General Manager. However, I took the occasion of the Bills game to fulfill a bucket list wish of visiting the Negro Leagues…
Daysi McGill, far right, receives assistance securing a jitney after her opening day shopping experience. From left, Rosalee Bishop of Tops, Grace Phillips, Leona Harper and Dorothy Ambrson-Law Daysi McGill, a retired Buffalo Public School teacher, will never forget why she was not at Tops Friendly Markets at precisely the time of the hate-filled, racist massacre on May 14 that killed 10 Black people and injured three.Victor Matthews was parked at the edge of the parking lot on Landon Street and Jefferson Avenue, across from Tops at 2:30 that afternoon when he heard gun shots that “sounded like a big…