A local provider of addiction and homeless support services has closed its Lockport location at least temporarily amid questions about the organization’s financing.
Save the Michaels of the World, Inc. announced the closure of its Main Street community center over the weekend.
The move follows a recent decision by the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports to pull funding for the organization.
The newspaper’s media partner, Investigative Post, reported last week that Erie County officials also plan to withdraw support this summer in the wake of a state audit that was critical of the organization’s financial oversight.
In an announcement posted on Facebook, Save the Michaels indicated that it received “devastating news” on Friday that the state chose to end its contracts with the organization.
As a result, the post indicated Save the Michaels would no longer be able to provide peer support services, drop-in support services, transportation to treatment, linkage to care for individuals seeking recovery and support to families navigating addiction.
“For 15 years, Save the Michaels has been a grassroots organization serving Western New York with compassion, urgency, and lived experience,” the organization noted in its Facebook post. “We have answered tens of thousands of calls and helped thousands enter treatment. We have helped everyone who calls for help. No other organization does the work that we do.”
Callers to the Lockport location were greeted on Monday by a voicemail message, confirming the closure of the site as well as a drop-in center in Buffalo. The message indicated that both offices were closed until further notice and that all intake services have also been suspended. The message directed individuals in immediate need to dial 911 for additional assistance.
A sign posted to the door read: “Save the Michaels apologizes for any inconvenience but is temporarily closed. This was not a decision made lightly. We are reorganizing due to a loss of funding. Continue to check back with us.”
Steven O’Mara, pastor with the Fig Tree Fellowship church on Main Street in Lockport, said the Lockport faith and human services community was aware of some issues facing Save the Michaels, however, he said it was “definitely a shock” to learn about the organization’s decision to suspend local services.
“Nothing would have led us to believe they would simply close the door,” he said.
O’Mara said he believes the move’s most immediate impact will be felt most by area homeless people who often visited the Lockport Save the Michaels site during the day.
He said his church is working with other churches and organizations to fill another gap: the loss of meeting space used by alcohol and drug addiction support groups.
While an added challenge, O’Mara said he believes his church and other organizations are capable of stepping up to fill gaps for those in need.
“I do believe the city is going to come together. I believe so many people in the city didn’t realize the work that was necessary and now they do.”
Founder and former CEO Avi Israel started Save the Michaels in 2011 with his wife Julie following the suicide of their son Michael during drug withdrawal. The organization opened a residential reintegration program for men in Newfane in 2022.
Investigative Post reported last week that the Erie County Department of Mental Health determined it will not renew contracts with the nonprofit next year due to “ongoing concerns” with its management. A spokesperson told IP the decision was “based on findings from site visits” and a 2024 audit conducted by OASAS. That agency distributes public funding for addiction treatment and prevention programs and regulates licensed providers, including Save the Michaels.
Findings from the audit, as reported by Investigative Post, include:
• Poor oversight of Israel’s use of the nonprofit’s money — including a loan, a raise and out-of-state travel.
• Improper tracking of key employee hours.
• Failure to provide financial information to auditors.
Auditors noted that Israel and his wife were both paid employees and voting board members for Save the Michaels, in violation of state policy.
The audit found that Israel had given himself a $25,000 raise, charged Save the Michaels for out-of-state travel and loaned himself $39,522 from company accounts — all without required approvals.
Israel resigned as chief executive late last year and has been replaced in the role of CEO by his former executive assistant Jessica Petty.
Petty did not respond to the newspaper’s emailed request seeking comment on Monday.
In its post on Facebook, Save the Michaels noted that it has new leadership in place while suggesting it has “fully cooperated with all requests from government.”
“Despite this, our contracts are being terminated,” the post read. “The new leadership is not being given any chance to move forward.
To discontinue working with a grassroots agency that has made a measurable impact in this community for over a decade should concern everyone, not just for us, but especially the individuals and families who rely on these services every single day.”
Israel told Investigative Post his Newfane program has a 98% recovery rate, meaning almost all residents who go through it do “not go back to using drugs.”
“We lowered the overdose deaths,” Israel said. “And even though certain people take credit for it, it was really, believe it or not, the not-for-profit and families who have lost loved ones who did the hard work.”
According to the Investigative Post report, he did not offer evidence to support his 98 percent claim. But a 2021 report on Buffalo’s drug court system praised the organization’s nonmedical transportation program, saying it “assists greatly” in getting participants to and from court.