BUFFALO, N.Y. — It's a Catholic parish on the verge of closure — and the members are angry.

"We just don't feel that the diocese looks at the people when they close these churches," said Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish council president Christine Fruchtel. "All they look at is dollars and cents."

Fruchtel and others from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Buffalo's Old First Ward are on a growing list of those whose house of worship is on the chopping block. Ahead of any hard deadlines, they came together to brainstorm ideas to save it.

"I'm hoping people don't get really angry, but that we get some constructive criticism," she noted before the meeting.

The parish council laid out what they've heard in meetings and what has factored into decisions for the diocese that now have them claiming fraud in the form of accepting collections and other donations before potentially shuttering the South Buffalo church.

More than 50 parishes in Western New York are facing an uphill battle in neighborhoods that once prided themselves in community first and foremost.

"We don't have a drugstore. We don't have a supermarket. We don't have a dry cleaners. We have nothing in this neighborhood except our church," said council vice president Susan Travis. "Don't take that away from us."

"The First Ward doesn't generally give up. So we're tough people. We all look out for each other," added Fruchtel. "So we're hoping that the third time is the charm and we get to say open."