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24 Worcester Business Journal • Giving Guide 2014 www.wbjournal.com Community Legal Aid Future Goals • Provide free civil legal assistance to over 5,000 low-income and elderly residents who could not afford an attorney, helping them obtain safe and stable housing, access disability and other lawful benefits, and break free from domestic violence. • Enhance opportunities for private attorneys to provide volunteer legal services or participate in the pro-bono Volunteer Lawyers Service. • Increase collaborative efforts with other nonprofit agencies in order to provide innovative approaches to serving those in need. • Identify and engage donors and companies outside the legal profession to support our efforts to serve more clients in need of critical legal services in our community. Fundraising Opportunities Please join us on October 29th 2014 from 5:30 -7:30pm at Tuckerman Hall in Worcester to celebrate the consolidation of legal aid services through Central and Western Mass. We will be recognizing the wonderful contributions made by our donors, volunteers and partners in our communities, united by the cause of justice for all. Congressman James McGovern will join other social justice champions to lead the charge. For more information or to sponsor our event, please contact Steve Taviner, Development Director, at 508- 425-2798 or staviner@cla-ma.org. Volunteer Opportunities The Volunteer Lawyers Service (VLS) is the largest pro bono referral program in Central and Western Massachusetts. VLS has referred thousands of low-income clients to lawyers in the private bar who represent clients free of charge. VLS seeks attorneys who wish to have a direct impact in improving lives in Worcester County. VLS is looking for volunteers with expertise in Adoption, Advance Directives/Wills, Bankruptcy/Debt Collection, Family Law, Foreclosure/Predatory Lending, Guardianships, Landlord-Tenant/Evictions and Special Education. Other volunteer opportunities include our Lawyer for the Day programs. Volunteers are needed in Worcester Housing Court, Worcester District Court and Worcester Probate and Family Court. Other projects include the Zarrow Homeless Advocacy Project, helping advise clients in homeless shelters on their legal rights, and Family Advocates of Central Mass, a medical-legal partnership through which volunteer attorneys assist clients referred by their medical providers with housing, benefits, employment and family law matters. To learn more, contact Anita Conte, Pro Bono Coordinator at (508) 425-2824 or aconte@cla-ma.org or through our website www.communitylegal.org. Giving Opportunities • Community Legal Aid's Annual Justice Campaign engages area attorneys and law firms to provide ongoing support to sustain our operations. CLA also solicits gifts from community leaders and businesses interested in supporting our efforts to ensure fairness in the justice system. • Donors who are interested in supporting the long-term financial stability of CLA can also consider making a gift to the James F. Queenan Legal Services Fund at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation or a bequest to CLA. Please contact Steve Taviner for more information. Gifts can also be made on CLA's website, www.communitylegal.org. Board of Directors Charles R. Casartello, Jr., Pellegrini Seeley Ryan & Blakesley, Board Chair Jonathan L. Mannina, Executive Director MISSION STATEMENT Service area: Worcester, Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden and Hampshire Counties To improve the lives of low- income and elderly people through legal assistance that protects fundamental rights, secures access to basic needs and challenges policies and practices that harm our clients. Mass. Legal Assistance Corp. ............................. 50% Government Grants ........23% Legal Services Corp ........ 15% Top funding sources: John A. Shea, Vice President Felicity Hardee, Treasurer Natasha Torres, Secretary/Clerk Donna Agure Michael P. Angelini Karla J. Clarke Brenda S. Doherty Justin P. Gelinas Livia Gonzalez Eric J. Gouvin Hon. John M. Greaney (Ret.) Hon. Herbert H. Hodos (Ret.) Susan Mailman Hon. James B. McElroy (Ret.) John T. McInnes Debra Moncrieffe Judith A. Obiero Sally Osei-Tutu Aurelina Peguero Hon. Gail L. Perlman (Ret.) Maria M. Rivera-Ortiz Todd Rodman Marline Ruiz Jonathan R. Sigel Gayle Flanders Weiss Community Legal Aid Inc. 405 Main Street Worcester, MA 01608 Phone: 855-CLA-Legal www.communitylegal.org Full-time employees: 65 Annual revenues: $6,818,342 Year founded: 1951 Many people believe that everyone has a right to a lawyer in any court dispute. That just isn't true. People needing legal help in civil cases involving, for example, domestic abuse or housing, often go without representation because they cannot afford a lawyer. CLA has helped give our neighbors legal assistance in the hardest of times. But funding for legal services has drastically declined over the past several years. So supporting the great work of CLA is essential. It's a matter of principle for me as a lawyer. But it should be a matter of citizenship for all of us. – Charles R. Casartello, Jr., Board Chair