In the Communities of Care project, we focus on communities of care in Buffalo to think with study participants about the everyday ways in which disabled people navigate and negotiate in the giving and receiving of care. We want to get better insight into the management of living, working, and accessing needs  in spaces that are lacking in critical infrastructure. 

We use “communities of care” as a means of extending our understanding of care networks beyond formalized healthcare settings to include the vital care that takes place in the home, in neighborhoods, and in other settings. We also consider care as work – both in its more formal settings and in the informal spaces in which it often occurs. 

In Communities of Care, we will think about the ways in which this work is done particularly by women, especially women of color and the implications that this has for the formation of caregiving/receiving relationships and worker organizing. 

In this project, we will create a permanent digital archive and exhibition space  available to community members, students, and researchers. We will bring together community people, artists, and scholars involved in giving and receiving care to share their stories through interviews, creative writing, memoir, and art making, as well as other approaches that interact with the communities of care theme.

The Communities of Care project will open a digital space to amplify the voices of those whose stories are not often heard, both the caregivers and those receiving care; and will focus on the intersection of disability, race, and gender.

The Communities of Care offices are part of the UB Downtown Campus.