BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – As Western New York marks four years since the Tops mass shooting on Jefferson Avenue, the state’s pledge to uplift Buffalo’s East Side is under renewed scrutiny. Millions of dollars were poured into programs meant to heal, rebuild, and address long‑standing inequities. But for one homeowner, the state-funded help she was promised turned into a three‑year ordeal of cold nights, soaked carpets, and unanswered pleas for accountability.
Darlene Coleman thought the Buffalo East Home Improvement Program (BEHIP) — a $20 million initiative funded after the massacre — was supposed to make her home safer and more livable. Instead, she says it left her house colder, wetter, and more damaged than before.
“When I push on this plastic, you can see and hear how much air is coming in here,” she said, pressing on the window covering that has become a symbol of her frustration.
A program meant to heal a community
In the weeks after the Tops shooting, New York State announced a slate of investments aimed at addressing generational inequities on the East Side. The focus was not only on trauma recovery, but also, on stabilizing neighborhoods through homeownership and small business support…