NU Launching Poverty-Focused Social Entrepreneurship Program
Niagara University is launching a poverty-focused social entrepreneurship program that aims to address some of the most significant problems facing Niagara Falls area residents.
For its inaugural competition, EntrepreNU 2015, a Vincentian Community Enterprise Project, challenges NU students to become directly engaged in finding new, self-sustaining, innovative solutions to the poverty-related issues of food, hunger and nutrition that confront so many Niagara Falls residents.
According to a recent community report commissioned by The John R. Oishei Foundation, approximately 15 percent of Niagara Falls’ most vulnerable residents have urgent concerns around food. Parts of Niagara Falls have been designated as a food desert, or an area where people do not have adequate access to groceries.
“As a Catholic and Vincentian institution, we are committed to engaging our faculty, staff and students to serve whenever and wherever we are most needed,” stated the Rev. James J. Maher, C.M., president of Niagara University. “Food insecurity is a significant challenge affecting the City of Niagara Falls, Niagara County and, consequently, the Buffalo-Niagara region. It is my vision that we will do whatever we can to use the tools of teaching, service and research to identify the causes of poverty and propose sustainable and impactful short and long term solutions. This competition is an important step.”