City Bar Justice Center’s “Legal Clinic for the Homeless” Becomes the “Shelter Advocacy Project” to Address Unmet Legal Needs

CONTACT 
Anthony Johnson
City Bar Justice Center
anthonyjohnson@nycbar.org

New York, January 30, 2025 – The City Bar Justice Center, a pro bono legal services affiliate of the New York City Bar Association, is excited to announce the reimagining of its Legal Clinic for the Homeless program as the Shelter Advocacy Project. Beyond rebranding, the name change accompanies a shift in program priorities to address current unmet legal needs for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.  

Under the direction of the Shelter Advocacy Project’s Director, Jennifer Quijano, the program will assist individuals with legal issues that are not being met by other community-based legal services offices. When it was established, the Legal Clinic for the Homeless assisted unhoused individuals primarily with public benefits issues. However, several other legal aid organizations have robust public benefits programs, and Quijano heard directly from clients that other legal concerns with no recourse plagued the community. 

“While talking to clients and partners, we learned that public benefits issues were being addressed by many other organizations, but issues like securing possessions in storage facilities, shelter denials, and housing voucher delays were not. We reprioritized our program’s goals in order to respond to the urgent legal needs of as many people as possible,” said Quijano.  

Homelessness in New York City is at its highest levels since the Great Depression. Recent estimates by the Coalition for the Homeless note that there are more than 350,000 people in the city without a home. One of these New Yorkers is “Alejandra” (alias to protect client identity), a transgender woman helped by the Shelter Advocacy Project. After being denied access to a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center shelter, project staff and volunteers intervened to get Alejandra into a shelter that safely aligned with her gender identity.  

“This pivot to the Shelter Advocacy Project is an example of the City Bar Justice Center’s responsiveness to our community. We are so proud to have the flexibility to develop the most efficient and innovative models of bridging the justice gap and meeting emerging legal needs. Together with our pro bono and community network, we remain nimble in our programming, ensuring that as the civil legal information, advice, and representation needs of New Yorkers with limited means or who are otherwise underserved evolve, we are prepared to respond,” said Kurt M. Denk, Executive Director at the City Bar Justice Center. 

Shelter partnerships established under the Legal Clinic for the Homeless will remain intact, and the Shelter Advocacy Project is also developing relationships with other stakeholders that work with the same population as the reformatted project. At the same time, the Shelter Advocacy Project is also maintaining referral partnerships with legal services providers that assist those facing public benefits issues. If you are interested in learning more about the project or volunteering, please contact Jennifer Quijano at jquijano@nycbar.org. 

New Yorkers who are experiencing homelessness and facing legal issues can contact the City Bar Justice Center’s Legal Hotline at 212-626-7383 to speak with a trained attorney. 

About the City Bar Justice Center  

The City Bar Justice Center furthers access to justice by addressing unmet civil legal needs of New Yorkers struggling with poverty and other systemic socioeconomic barriers. The Justice Center’s dozen civil justice projects are led by a staff of dedicated attorneys and support professionals who provide high-quality civil legal services through brief advice and information, referrals, and both limited scope and extended representation that benefit more than 25,000 New Yorkers each year who cannot afford to hire counsel. www.citybarjusticecenter.org