New York Bar Foundation Awards Grant to the Justice Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless

The New York Bar Foundation recently presented a grant of $5,000 to the City Bar Justice Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless (LCH). LCH trains and supervises pro bono attorneys to assist families residing in homeless shelters with the complex legal challenges that block self-sufficiency, primarily by helping families to secure state and federal public benefits and by connecting them with resources to resolve their other unmet legal needs. The grant will support the LCH Outreach Initiative, which will improve LCH’s ability to provide on-the-ground referrals and remote pro bono volunteers at LCH legal clinics.

“We are honored to receive this grant from The New York Bar Foundation to help homeless families who are often enduring the most difficult time in their lives,” states Lynn M. Kelly, Executive Director of the City Bar Justice Center. She continues, “Our Legal Clinic for the Homeless Outreach Initiative helps strengthens the pro bono response to the homelessness crisis in New York City today, and we look forward to providing more life-changing legal services to families in need in the coming year.”

At the grant check presentation, New York Bar Foundation Vice President Lesley Rosenthal expressed the Foundation’s pride in supporting the City Bar Justice Center’s vital work to increase access to justice for the most vulnerable communities in our city.

“The New York Bar Foundation this year allocated nearly $700,000 in grants to 105 programs across New York, and we have nearly doubled the total dollar amount of grants over the past five years,” said Bar Foundation President John H. Gross. “Foundation leadership has worked hard to increase available funds so that we can continue to assist those in need of legal services across New York State and we are pleased that we are able to offer more assistance.”

New York Bar Foundation grants assist in:

• Increasing public understanding of the law
• Improving the justice system and the law
• Facilitating the delivery of legal services
• Enhancing professional competence and ethics

 

About The New York Bar Foundation
The New York Bar Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the charitable arm of the New York State Bar Association. Established in 1950 The Foundation is dedicated to aiding charitable and educational projects to meet the law-related needs of the public and the legal profession. To learn more about The Foundation and how you can support its charitable programs, go to www.tnybf.org or contact Deborah Auspelmyer.

About the City Bar Justice Center
The City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association, increases access to justice by leveraging the resources of the New York City legal community. The Justice Center operates the city’s busiest legal hotline and annually provides direct legal representation, information and advocacy to over 20,000 New Yorkers in areas including immigration, homelessness, veterans assistance, elderlaw, cancer advocacy and micro-entrepreneurship.