Gateway-Longview and the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Center break ground on a new residential facility.

On Thursday, May 14, 2009, clients and leaders from Gateway-Longview, the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Center, along with several Western New York Dignitaries gathered together to break ground on the Monroe Place apartment complex.

The unique collaboration between Gateway-Longview and the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Center is laying the foundation for strengthening youth in our community. This project is the result of thoughtful evaluation of best-practices and the clients’ needs.

The 12-unit, two bedroom apartment complex, will be located on Monroe Street off of Broadway in the East side of Buffalo. This apartment complex will provide a home for teens and young adults who have aged out of foster care and have been placed in Gateway-Longview’s Supervised Independent Living Program. The Lt. Col. Matt Urban Center is the driving force being the housing project. Gateway-Longview will provide the clinical and therapeutic support for the youth placed in care.

A few years ago, Gateway-Longview’s Program Quality assessment department identified a clear need to bolster life skills support for youth, teens, and young adults placed in the agency’s Supervised Independent Living Programs (SILP). As a result, Gateway-Longview approached the Lt. Col. Matt Urban Center with the idea of partnering together to build a supportive, therapeutic, community based facility to support youth and teens in need of residential care. Together, the organizations’ leaders and young clients identified Monroe Place as the site where they could live, work, and learn the skills necessary to become productive members of society.


“We’re bringing together the strength of Matt Urban’s construction and community development and our strength or working with the foster care system,” James M. Sampson, Gateway-Longview President & CEO, said of the collaboration.

This project is being funded through a $3.1 million dollar state grant provided by the Homeless Housing Assistance Coporation, also known as the HHAC. The expected completion date is approximately nine months from breaking ground.

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