About Us

The mission of WNY United is to increase awareness, educate, and mobilize a broad cross section of individuals and groups to participate actively in proven strategies to prevent substance abuse.

WNY United is a primary substance abuse prevention and education agency designed to train and mobilize local schools and communities to implement evidence-based strategies that prevent the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other dangerous drugs. Utilizing the latest prevention technology, we offer comprehensive, sustained prevention services to high-risk schools and communities that willingly enter into long-term partnership agreements with our agency to foster the development of healthy, capable young people.

WNY United started as a problem-solving initiative of the United Way and local business leaders Robert and Melinda Rich and has been delivering prevention services to Buffalo and surrounding communities since 1987. The staff of approximately twenty is primarily funded by the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) through a contract with the Erie County Department of Mental Health. Additional support is provided by the Erie County Youth Bureau, the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, the John R. Oishei Foundation, the WNY United Foundation, the Rich Family Foundation, and private contributions.

Over the years the agency has increasingly focused on signed School Community Action Team (SCAT) partnership agreements that require a time commitment from the area schools and in return, bring the following range of prevention services for which there is no cost:

√ Technical assistance in the completion of building level capacities assessments and comprehensive prevention plan development
√ A Prevention Specialist in each building two days per week to provide evidence-based social competency and leadership curricula
√ Program performance monitoring and evaluation
√ Training of key adults
√ Technical assistance for community coalitions, if applicable
√ Tools to bring about environmental change
√ Academic mentors in selected buildings

Each year, we serve over 5,000 students in approximately twenty-five high-risk school buildings with our evidence-based curricula.

For a list of the Agency Boards of Directors and Agency Committees, please click here.

If you would like to view our most recent Annual Reports and Newsletters, please visit the Multimedia page.