by Joseph RADDER
If there were more people like Bonnie Glazer in the world it would be a better place for
all of us...especially the children. If she had her way, all children would, in her words,
“get the best possible start in life.” In such a perfect world our children
would then grow up to be healthier and happier responsible adults.
As executive director of Child and Adolescent Treatment Services (CATS), a non-profit
agency that operates seven treatment centers throughout Erie County, Bonnie Glazer spends
every day working toward that goal.
“I want to be a strong advocate of the health and well-being of the children in our
community,” she says. “I am grateful to be able to be a spokesperson for the
children who can’t speak for themselves.”
CATS was founded in 1937 as a Community Chest (now the United Way) “Red Feather”
agency with just seven employees. The organization has grown every year and today employs
80 people.
“We do a lot in partnership with the schools,” Glazer said, “and we counsel
lots of kids and their parents in our facilities. These are children who are emotionally
troubled, have experienced traumas or are neglected and abused.”
Originally affiliated with the court system, CATS is now licensed by the New York State
Department of Mental Health. It receives partial funding from the Erie County Department
of Mental Health, the United Way, client fees and insurance re-imbursement, but also
depends on donations from people who care about its mission. This past year, nearly 2500
children received services at CATS branch offices, in homes, schools and community-based
settings. 92% of the agency’s clients indicated satisfaction with its services which
include child and family counseling, partnerships with educators and other human service
agencies, family support centers, a child advocacy center dealing with the trauma of child
sexual abuse, home-based counseling services and a program to prepare adolescents and
young adults who have been living in foster homes for living an independent life.
Bonnie Glazer is perfectly suited to run this wonderful complex of services. Her parents
had grown up in a Cleveland orphanage. They married very young and her father became her
mother’s legal guardian when he was age 21. They were married for 62 years when her
father passed away in 1987.
“My father was my hero,” she says. “He began life with tremendous
disadvantages but he overcame them all, educated himself and eventually became a very
successful author and writer for magazines and newspapers. His favorite saying was
‘If life gives you lemons, make lemonade’.”
Bonnie grew up in the Cleveland suburb of University Heights where she graduated from high
school. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Rochester
and later received her master’s degree at the SUNY School of Social Work in Buffalo.
About 10 years ago, she took on an intensive course of study in her chosen field at Smith
College.
She has been on the staff of Child and Family Services, was on the faculty of the School
of Social Work at U.B. and was program manager of the Adult and Child Family Clinic at
ECMC. She became executive director of Child and Adolescent Treatment Services in 1993.
When we asked why CATS has such a low profile, she said, “Our work with children and
parents, of course, is very confidential. If a newspaper came out here and did a story on
us, the first thing they’d want to do is take pictures, and we couldn’t allow
that.”
Bonnie and her husband, Eric Glazer, are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this
year. “We’re cyclists,” she said, “and we plan to spend our
anniversary enjoying the bicycle path along the Canadian side of the Niagara River.”
The Glazers have two children, Aaron age 22, who is completing his studies this year at
Buff State, and Jillian, 18, who began her freshman year this fall at Boston University.
Bonnie Glazer’s love of her family is obvious, and it’s clear she would love to
be able to pass on the kind of happiness she has enjoyed to all of the families her agency
serves.
Joseph Radder is a freelance writer.