The History of Compass House

Trinity Episcopal Church and the Junior League of Buffalo founded compass House in 1972, with a mission to provide shelter and services for runaway and homeless youth. The shelter program was first located on Buffalo's West Side on 7th Street and was able to provide shelter for up to eight male or female youth 12-18 years of age. Initially, volunteers primarily staffed Compass House, with a Director and two full-time employees. Our twenty-one maximum member volunteer Board is comprised of community leaders and professionals who provide guidance, talent, expertise and resources to foster growth and maintain stability. Board members may serve two consecutive three-year terms.

In 1974 Compass House incorporated as a private, non-for-profit corporation, independent of the church. Since then our level of funding has progressively increased, enabling the growth of services.

Episcopal Community Services and the Erie County Department of Youth Services continue to provide funding. Since 1975 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has also supplied a major part of our budget, through the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA). In 1978 New York State also passed a Runaway and Homeless Youth Act and funding source as well as our regulatory agency. Local community support is reflected in the annual grant from the United Way, as well as monies received from individuals, corporations and other local organizations

Compass House offers a unique service to the Western New York. We are the only shelter and service provider for both male and female runaway and homeless youth between the ages of 12 through 20. In fact, we are one of the oldest shelters for runaway and homeless youth in the country. The young people that we serve are the youth that fall through the cracks. These youth are often rejected by their families, as well as by the very systems set up to protect them. (i.e. schools, foster care, group homes, etc.)

Compass House has two program sites. Our Emergency Shelter program, serving youth ages 12-17, is housed in our own building on 370 Linwood Avenue. This facility is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide access to services for young people in need of emergency shelter. Youth are provided with short-term, (overnight up to 30 days) of shelter and counseling services. Round the clock coverage is provided by a minimum of two Youth Counselors on each shift. The mortgage on the shelter was paid-in-full in August of 1998.

The Resource Center, opened in leased office space at 1441 Main Street in Buffalo in 1986. The program was designed to provide case management to homeless and at-risk youth, 16-20 years of age. It is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and on Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The Resource Center, now located at 1451 Main St., houses the counseling program, independent living program, Street Outreach Program, Safe Place, and Business Office.

Compass House has maintained an exemplary reputation for providing quality services to youth. Our agency and its leadership have been recognized by the community, our regulators and funders. We have always maintained high fiscal and programmatic accountability.

The community has always been very generous to Compass House and responsive to the needs of our population, each year the community giving generously through donations and projects. The holiday season is incredible as donations of food, money and gifts pour in from schools, area businesses, churches and members of the community.

Another extension of community support lies in our volunteer program. Compass House started as a primarily volunteer-run program and has continued to utilize community members to assist paid staff in providing for the many and varied needs of our young people. The majority of our volunteers are direct service volunteers working in the shelter and the Resource Center to provide additional support and one-on-one attention to the youth that we serve.  Approximately 50% of our staff started out in the volunteer program.

We offer young people an opportunity to be treated with dignity and respect as they work towards resolving the difficulties that brought them to our agency. We are non-judgmental and non-authoritarian in our approach to working with youth and their families, we look to resolve problems not assign blame.

Compass House has strong working relationships with our funders, other community organizations and service providers. We have linkage agreements with aprox. 55 other agencies in the community to facilitate accessing needed services for the youth that we serve. Our staff participates in a variety of coalitions and commissions to make sure that the needs of our young people are represented in the community.