My name is A. Morris and I live in ZIP code 14208 — Hamlin Park, Buffalo.

In the 1930s, the federal government redlined our neighborhood. Banks drew maps that excluded us from mortgages, from wealth-building, from the same opportunities every other neighborhood had. The effects are still here today: 35% of our district lives in poverty. Unemployment runs twice the county average. Families are losing homes at Erie County's annual tax foreclosure auction while businesses nearby negotiate 10-year tax breaks from the city.

We are not asking for charity. We are proposing the 14208 Community Investment Trust — a legal, resident-governed fund, already authorized under New York State law — that requires profitable businesses operating in our neighborhood to reinvest a modest portion of their profits into youth jobs, small business grants, and home repairs right here.

Two cents on a dollar. That is what we are asking for.

We are calling on Council Member Zeneta B. Everhart to introduce this ordinance and hold a public hearing in the Masten District.

Sign if you believe Hamlin Park deserves to be invested in — not just profited from.