Eviction Legal Aid Project Gets New Grant |
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New year, new beginning couldn’t ring truer than the changes happening within our Housing unit. CELHP (COVID Eviction Legal Help Project) that started in October 2020 to assist low-income landlords and tenants came to an end. However, at the start of 2022, a new grant is picking up where CELHP left off. The Eviction Legal Aid Project will operate as effectively as its predecessor. Under this new grant our Housing team will continue to assist our clients up to their Tier 1 and or Mediation phases. Without interruption, we will continue to assist eligible landlords across the state of Massachusetts who are struggling financially and to serve tenants via our online Answer & Discovery and Lawyer For the Day clinics and more, if applicable. We are grateful we can continue to assist the underserved low-income landlord population as well as the struggling tenants through the new Eviction Legal Aid grant. |
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We have two volunteer programs available in our Eviction Legal Aid unit. Signup here if you are interested in volunteering on the tenant side. Interested in joining our Landlord Advocacy program? Signup here.
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If numbers are indicative of how great a program is, then the program we created for our interns must be sublime. At the beginning of this year, we welcomed and onboarded 26 student interns, our largest intern class to date! We are grateful for each one of our interns, and excited to have them join the VLP family. With their unique experiences and specialized skills, we know their efforts will help us provide services smoothly and efficiently. Welcome stars! |
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We closed a total of 2,628 cases last year, of those cases 665 were taken on by Pro Bono volunteers. Almost half of the cases came from our Housing unit, closing in at a staggering 1,125. Coming in second with a sizeable contribution is our Family unit, closing 523 cases. Considerable numbers also came from our Unemployment, Consumer and Guardianship units, closing 293, 206 and 122 cases respectively. Kudos to all 11 VLP units and thank you for your dedication and hard work! |
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Pro Bono Attorney Digs Deeper and Wins |
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Providing every single client consistent quality access to justice would be difficult without our pro bono attorneys working alongside us. They are dedicated and become instrumental in winning cases--oftentimes only a handful of people get to rejoice briefly and discreetly before moving on to the next case. We think every small win deserves to be heard beyond the work proximity of the parties involved so today; we’re spotlighting Monika Wirtz’s most recent housing case win.
Fifteen years into retiring, Monika wanted to commit some of her free time volunteering with organizations she respects and supports. This Spring, on top of joining the board for three different nonprofits, Monika joined VLP’s pro bono panel where she proved she has already made a difference for one of our clients. In her the first VLP case, Monika represented an 85-year-old disabled client whose landlord filed an eviction case against her for providing her daughter a key to her building and alleged the daughter aided in the theft of the building’s packages, asserting the surveillance video captured the act.
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Monika requested a reasonable accommodation on behalf of our client for the daughter to be permitted to have a key to the building to assist her mother and her wheelchair user grandson, living with our client under her guardianship. The landlord first denied the request and aggressively continued to assert that the daughter had assisted in stealing packages. Monika travelled to the landlord's office to review the video and discovered that the video showed that the daughter was not at all involved in the theft. The landlord backed down and reinstated our client's tenancy, dismissed the eviction case, and granted a reasonable accommodation for the client's daughter to have a key to continue to assist our client and her grandson.
Monika's diligence and hard work allowed our client to preserve her tenancy. Thank you for your work in keeping our client housed and thank you for taking another case!
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Women Lawyers Rule the Courts |
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Supervising Attorney of Housing & Appeals Amy Anthony ended the year with a bang for VLP. Recognized as a 2021 Top Women of Law honoree by a panel comprised of members of the legal community and representatives of Lawyers Weekly, Amy wowed us yet again. On November 19th, the Top Women of Law event celebrated Amy’s achievements, placing her in the ranks of exceptional women lawyers who are pioneers, educators, trailblazers and role models.
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Read more about Amy’s extraordinary achievements and dedication to VLP. Amy’s highlight is featured on page 10. Read it here and watch Amy’s segment at the award ceremony here.
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Executive Director Joanna Allison appeared on The Portuguese Channel “Vida Luso-Americana” reassuring the community that meaningful advocacy for qualified landlords is still available through the Volunteer Lawyers Project.
The 15-minute segment aired not once but twice on December 18th! With translation assistance by Fatima Castelo, Joanna talked with host Helena DaSilva-Hughes about VLP’s Landlord Advocacy program, addressing the community’s high count of eviction notices by sharing VLP’s secret weapon, our upstream efforts.
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Check out the full interview here. |
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Is learning a new skill, picking up a hobby, or becoming a better version of yourself one of your New Year resolutions? You came to the right place. The Volunteer Lawyers Project offers interested attorneys, paralegals, law students, and members of the legal community opportunities to learn a new skill or two, or we can help you brush up on your industry knowledge. Volunteer opportunities are offered in one or more of the following units:
- Civil Appeals
- Bankruptcy
- Consumer
- Employment and Wage and Hour
- Family Law and Guardianship
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Housing
Connect or reconnect with us. Join our expansive network of dedicated professionals like you! Click here to signup or email VLP’s Pro Bono Manager Emelia Andres [email protected].
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Join us in welcoming Caitlyn Treem, Deb Wilmer, Rafael Martin-Navas, Seila Chuop and Kevin Walsh to the VLP family! Caitlyn, Deb, Seila and Kevin will be working directly in the Eviction Legal Aid Housing unit and Rafael will be working at our call center ERLI. We’re thrilled to have them onboard! |
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If you, or someone you know, are interested in joining the VLP team you can check out our available positions here.
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Stay in the loop by subscribing to our social media pages and checking out our list of events. We have several virtual trainings coming up led by our phenomenal staff attorneys.
Feb 17th 10AM-11:30AM
Feb 24th, 10 AM-12 PM
March 3rd, 10 AM-11:30 AM
March 10th, 10 AM-11 AM
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Follow VLP on social media at any of the links below: |
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