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2011 BBF Grant Recipients Boston Medical Center Corporation: Medical-Legal Partnership for Children Boston Medical Center (BMC) provides health care services to its clients regardless of status or ability to pay. The Medical Legal Partnership for Children is a hospital-based legal services program that ensures that low-income families’ and children’s basic needs for food, safety, housing and health care are met, and to educate providers on benefits and basic advocacy techniques. The Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) provides civil legal assistance to low-income patients and their families by working with clinicians to identify unmet legal needs. MLP utilizes professional staff and a pro bono network. Brazilian Immigrant Center (BIC) BIC’s Domestic Worker Legal Clinic serves as the legal component to the organization efforts of BIC and the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers’ (MCDW) ongoing campaign to increase domestic workers rights and to protect domestic workers with the existing laws. The Clinic provides free or extremely low cost legal representation and mediation services to domestic workers. In addition to legal services, the clinic makes concerted outreach efforts to educate workers about their rights. BIC provides a niche legal service to a unique and underserved community with this collaborative and innovative project Casa Myrna Vazquez Casa Myrna Vazquez’ Legal Advocacy Program offers legal advice and referrals, both in-person and through it’s hotline, as well as court representation and out-of-court advocacy. It also gives clients long-term representation in Probate and Family Court matters, with a focus on the provision on multi-lingual services to diverse and typically underserved women in the community. Casa Myrna Vazquez is Boston’s largest non-profit delivering solutions to end domestic and dating violence. Centro Presente Centro Presente’s Legal Immigration Services (LIS) provides high-quality, essential legal services to approximately 2,000 low-income Latino immigrants in Massachusetts. Structured around an efficient paralegal-based model with the support from a pro-bono firm, LIS offers a bilingual, welcoming, and safe environment to prepare immigration processes and provide consultations that are relevant to their community. Starting in 2007, the project has expanded their services to the area of workers rights, offering individual advocacy (i.e. wage and hour violation), case maintenance, and collective action in Centro Presente’s Workers Center. Centro Presente serves a large number of clients and is mainly self-funded. Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, Inc. (CLCM) The Edlaw Project was created to ensure that Boston’s highest risk children receive a quality education. The project provides children with legal representation in education matters including school discipline, academic failure, and undetected special needs. It educates families, youth-serving professionals, lawyers, and educators to recognize the warning signs of unmet educational needs and learn how to intervene effectively. It also engages with the school system and supports community-set agendas by assisting in efforts to organize community members. CLCM provides assistance to a population not served by other legal services organizations. City Life/Vida Urbana This program seeks to educate low-income tenants and former property owners of their rights when threatened by foreclosure displacement. CL/VU staff and attorneys provide weekly canvassing of foreclosed properties, weekly legal trainings on the foreclosure process in Spanish and English, and close coordination with almost daily client consultations. Boston neighborhoods served include Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roslindale, Hyde Park, and East Boston. The Legal Advocacy to Stop Post-Foreclosure Displacement project provides an innovative solution to a large population. CL/VU also has an impressive amount foundation support. Community Legal Services and Counseling Center, Inc. (CLSACC) Pro Bono and Staff Legal Services responds to unmet legal needs within the communities it serves, assisting victims of domestic violence and their children, preventing homelessness, securing legal status in the U.S. for battered immigrant women and people seeking political asylum and helping low-income people with disabilities live independently and attain stability. East Boston Ecumenical Community Council, Inc. CLAP serves immigrants and refugees who are below 125% of the poverty level and who have entered the US within the past 16 years from El Salvador, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. The project works primarily to educate community residents on their rights as immigrants as well as changes in the immigration policy that affects their immigrant status. It also assists with immigration status issues for non-citizens, provides access to legal representation, and supports such legal representation. Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) Greater Boston Legal Services is the primary provider of free civil legal assistance in Greater Boston and the largest legal services provider in New England. GBLS’ mission is to provide free, civil legal assistance to low-income individuals and families in Boston, and to 31 cities and towns in Suffolk, Middlesex, Norfolk, and Plymouth counties. It provides legal assistance for a wide spectrum of poverty law matters including affordable housing, tenant rights, emergency shelter regulations, family law, welfare regulations, employment law, unemployment benefits, health and disability benefits laws, and immigration law. Advocacy options include brief service, full representation, impact litigation and systemic policy advocacy. Irish International Immigration Center (IIIC) The Immigration Services and Citizenship Program is a civil legal services program providing legal immigration assistance to clients who would otherwise be unable to afford it. The program utilizes a staff attorney, a BIA certified staff member, citizenship specialists, and 12 pro bono attorneys in order to provide advice, counseling, representation, assistance with status and immigration processes, free legal clinics and immigration workshops, a comprehensive citizenship program, ESOL classes, and advocacy for immigrant worker rights. IIIC services a large number of clients from a number of populations/ethnicities and have diversified their funding sources. Lawyers Clearinghouse The Lawyer’s Clearinghouse mission is to promote affordable housing and reduce homelessness by providing pro bono legal services to nonprofit organizations that work with homeless populations and to individuals who are homeless. Its three programs are the Community Legal Referral Program, the Massachusetts Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and the BBA Business Law Pro Bono Project. The Lawyers Clearinghouse continues to place a large number of cases and provides an important service to clients. Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law of the BBA The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under Law is a non-profit civil rights organization that provides free legal services to victims of discrimination based on race and national origin by way of impact litigation, community outreach and legal education, and technical assistance. Legal Advocacy and Resource Center (LARC) LARC collaborates with Greater Boston Legal Services and the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) and operates a free legal hotline, which serves as the primary entry point for callers experiencing legal problems and seeking legal services in Greater Boston. The Hotline staff identifies legal problems, provides advice and materials on a variety of legal topics, and refers clients to government and social service agencies when appropriate. The staff also screens clients for eligibility for full representation by GBLS or VLP. LARC, in conjunction with four private law firms and GBLS support, also places cases with a pro bono panel providing representation in a variety of matters. Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) Through the Education Pro Bono Referral Network of Children’s Law Support Project, MAC is able to expand its capacity to provide civil legal services to assure the rights of children from low-income and underserved populations in the areas of Special Ed, school exclusions, and homelessness. MAC/CLSP provides support to pro bono and legal services attorneys. The project specifically targets low-income children in immigrant and non-English speaking families. This project provides important assistance to an underserved population and a large number of clients Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Health & Safety (MassCOSH) The project will provide, train, and direct pro bono attorneys to manage cases involving immigrant workers with the goal of screening, referring, and providing pro bono representation and advocacy to adults, youth, immigrants, and people of color in Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, East Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Charlestown, and Chelsea. It will also conduct outreach programs in these neighborhoods and at companies that employ immigrants. The project is an innovative and collaborative approach to reaching and serving clients. Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute is a poverty law office whose mission is to advocate for low-income people, the elderly, minorities, immigrants, and people with disabilities in basic needs cases. The Immigrants Protection Project is designed to address the civil legal needs of low-income immigrants; ensure their fair and equal treatment by federal, state and local entities; promote reforms that increase social and economic opportunity; and maximize the capacity of local legal services providers to effectively represent and advocate for low-income immigrants. The funds from the BBF will go to support this realistic, well-conceived and thoughtful new project. Metrowest Legal Services Metrowest provides legal advice, brief service, and representation to low-income individuals and families in our service area. General support funds provided by the BBF will be used to fund attorneys in the areas of housing, government benefits, and elder law who rely on unrestricted funds in whole or part to represent their respective client populations. The organization serves an important population and geographic area. Neighborhood Legal Services The NLS’s Homelessness Prevention Project (HPP) is a part of NLS’s Tenancy Preservation Project. In the HPP, NLS staff partner with an attorney from North Shore Community Action Programs (NSCAP) and pro bono attorneys to provide limited representation to low income tenants and landlords in mediation in the Lynn and Salem sessions of the Northeast Housing Court. NLS is a core provider of legal services for many communities within Route 128. This organization provides assistance to an underserved population and community. Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR) The Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR) is the core provider of pro bono legal services to asylum seekers whose cases are heard in Boston. It recruits, trains, and mentors private attorneys to provide representation to asylum seekers in Boston. It collaborates with other legal service providers to achieve this mission. PAIR continues to provide excellent assistance to asylum-seekers and immigrants in detention with the successful use of many pro bono attorneys. Prisoners’ Legal Services Formerly known as Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, this organization provides a range of civil legal services for prisoners. The first project focuses on the areas of health/mental health, guard brutality, and confinement/segregation. Respond, Inc. The Legal Support Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence aims to ensure that survivors have the information and supports they need to act on their legal rights within the court system, and to address systemic problems within the court system that can impede survivors’ access or safety to court services or their safety in using these services. Shelter Legal Services Foundation, Inc. The Veterans’ Legal Services Project’s objective is to meet the critical need for civil legal services for homeless and low-income veterans. This is accomplished holding weekly legal clinics at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home as well as staffing the Yellow Ribbon events. The Yellow Ribbon Project, a collaborative program with the Boston Bar Association and the Army National Guard JAG office has provided legal informational sessions on-site at Pre/Post-Deployment briefings as well as legal advice and representation to military personnel. Tri-City Community Action Program (Tri-CAP) The Pro Bono Legal Project’s mission is to make legal services less intimidating and more accessible for low-income residents of Malden, Medford, Everett, Melrose and Wakefield, thereby increasing justice for those members of the community who are most vulnerable or at risk of homelessness (about 1000 clients annually). The project provides information, advice, advocacy, and representation in non-fee-generating civil cases. Services are provided through staff attorneys, a pro bono attorney panel, a paralegal, and legal interns. Victim Rights Law Center The Rape Survivors’ Law Project’s goal is to meet the civil legal needs of low-income sexual assault victims by leveraging pro bono legal assistance and by encouraging legal system responsiveness. This project will 1) serve low-income victims in the greater Boston area, 2) train and support pro bono attorneys to provide these services and 3) serve as the representation and referral center for newly enacted MGL 258E. VRLC continues to serve as an important point of contact for victims of sexual assault. Women’s Bar Foundation The Family Law Project for Battered Women’s aims to ensure the safety of low-income victims of domestic violence through high quality legal representation and legal assistance in family law matters using FLP trained and mentored private attorney. The FLP objectives include 1) recruiting, training and mentoring 150 legal professionals each year, 2) offering 3 comprehensive trainings each year and at least one practice related follow up seminar, 4) providing full pro bono referrals for representation to over 100 victims, and 5) providing limited advice and assistance from staff lawyers to 200 victims. This is a focused and well-run project that serves an important need. The organization has strong fundraising and has effectively used volunteers. |
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