On Wednesday (9/9/26), City of Buffalo and County of Erie officials gathered in front of Jocklyn Walton’s new Black Rock house to celebrate their partnership, called the Building Buffalo Roots program, which is designed to create new opportunities for affordable homeownership by filling in vacant lots throughout the city with new houses.

Walton, 38, a lease officer at M&T Bank, is the first homeowner to buy and move into one of the 47 houses designed by HHL Architects for BENLIC and being constructed by Buffalo Construction Consultants in Buffalo. These new affordable homes were built and funded with federal (ARPA) dollars through a collaboration between the City of Buffalo and Erie County.