The TRY Program opened its doors in December, 1997 after 7 long years of planning, fund raising and preparation. In 1990, on her way to make communion calls in St. Mary of Sorrows parish on the east side of Buffalo, Sr. Mary Augusta Kaiser SSJ began meeting young girls on the streets who "all looked like they were looking for something." She discovered in the course of their conversations that, as a result of various troubles in their lives, they were all prostituting themselves to survive. While their past experiences differed, they all had one thing in common - they were all homeless and without hope. After Sister met with the Vice Squad, the police set up an undercover operation and subsequently 177 prostitutes were arrested within a 2 month period in that area of the city. She set up an Advisory Board consisting of some social workers, educators, block club members and a former prostitute to address the question of what could be done to assist the young women. After spending two months in jail, the young women would be back out on the streets since there was no one to help them when they were released. Sr. Mary Augusta, along with Rev. Roy Herberger decided to do something about the situation and the idea for the TRY Program was born.

It took seven years to find a building (a former convent), raise the $52,935. required to buy it from the Diocese of Buffalo and then raise another $248,862. to bring it up to code and finally another $ 35,601. for the furnishings. The Teaching and Restoring Youth (TRY) Program, a project of the Fillmore-Leroy Area Residents, Inc. opened its doors in December of 1997. It is TRY's goal to empower these women so they can rebuild their lives and become productive members of society.

In 1998, TRY saw a need to expand the program. The first ten residents were court mandated young women with an arrest record for prostitution. Every one of these young women had been sexually abused as a child before they became involved in prostitution. A decision was made to expand the criteria of the TRY Program to also accept young women who had been sexually abused or exploited and were at risk for prostitution. The TRY facility has ten individual bedrooms. TRY houses homeless young women between the ages of 16 and 25 who show a desire to change their lives.

TRY residents are court mandated, agency referred (see Linkages) or self-referred. Many of the young women left home to escape abusive situations or were put on the streets by their parents or other family members. Over half of them are victims of child incest; many are suffering from alcohol or drug addictions. Some of the young women come into the program with sexually transmitted diseases which they are unaware they have contracted. When they enter the program ninety percent of the women do not have a high school diploma, GED or positive job experience. Once they enter the program they all get back in school or work on their GED. They generally stay in the program between 6 months to a year. Sessions are held in anger management, building self-esteem, arts and crafts, creative writing and poetry.

In the 9 years since TRY opened its doors, 135 young women have been in residence. Others were interviewed and referred elsewhere. The young women who are accepted into the TRY program are those who realize that they need to make a positive change in their life and are motivated to do so in TRY's structured living environment.