Eric Angel, Executive Director

On February 19, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would shut down the Corporation for National and Community Service and put an end to several large-scale service programs – including AmeriCorps, which funds organizations like Habitat for Humanity, Teach for America, City Year, Jumpstart, and Big Brothers Big Sisters.  The impact of such legislation would be devastating.

Here at Legal Aid, we have seen the difference that AmeriCorps funding can make first-hand.  In just the past two years, the AmeriCorps program has enabled Legal Aid to expand the scope of its services through the creation of two Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow positions focusing on providing legal representation and advice to homeless veterans and to low-income DC homeowners facing foreclosure.  Through the work of these fellows and their projects, individuals in desperate need of help have been able to obtain legal assistance – for veterans, this has included assistance with child support and public benefits issues creating barriers to veterans finding housing and reentering the workforce; for low-income homeowners, this has included assistance negotiating loan modifications and litigating mortgage-related scam cases.  Both fellows have conducted extensive outreach and education in the community about their respective issue areas.

Congress must now reach a budget compromise by March 18th.  Whether that compromise will include funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service and AmeriCorps remains unknown.  Help save these invaluable programs by calling your Senators today.  Find out more about what you can do at www.saveservice.org

Eric Angel, Executive Director

A federal study released yesterday confirmed what many providers who work with homeless populations know:  homelessness is a significant problem for our nation’s veterans.  According to an assessment from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA), released yesterday, nearly 76,000 veterans were homeless on a given night in 2009, while roughly 136,000 veterans spent at least one night in a shelter during that year.  Veterans are disproportionately represented in the homeless population: approximately 8 per cent of the nation has veterans status, while 12 per cent of individuals experiencing homelessness are veterans.  Moreover, things are worse for veterans living in poverty.  Ten percent of veterans in poverty became homeless at some point during the 2009, compared to five per cent of adults in poverty.  The crisis is even greater here in the District, with more than 10 per cent of our homeless population made up of veterans.  These statistics—and much more—can be found in the new HUD/VA study.  In addition, USA Today has published an article about the study.

Given the extraordinary need among the District’s veteran population, Legal Aid is particularly proud of the veterans project that we have recently launched with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the law firms of Arent Fox LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.  The project, led at Legal Aid by Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Fellow Jennifer Cheung, is designed to serve the civil legal needs of our veteran population in the District, with a particular emphasis on child support.  For more about the project, click here.

Jennifer Cheung, Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow

Events are being held across the country today to honor and thank United States veterans.  Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, was created originally to memorialize the end of World War I.  However, at the urging of veterans service organizations, in 1954  the word Armistice Day was replaced with Veterans Day.  November 11 is now an annual day to honor United States veterans of all wars.

As the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps fellow at Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, I am honored to be part of Legal Aid’s new project to work with veterans in the District of Columbia on legal issues relating to family law, public benefits, consumer protections, and landlord-tenant concerns.  We hope that our legal assistance and the partnerships we have built with Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, law firms, and local agencies will make a difference for veterans and their families. Please help us get the word out about this project so we can start making a difference!  I can be reached at (202) 661-5948 or by email at jcheung@legalaiddc.org.

Thank you to all veterans who have served our country!

Jonathan Smith, Executive Director

Legal Aid has been awarded an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow to help us launch a project that will serve low-income veterans in the District of Columbia. Legal Aid’s efforts will initially focus on issues arising out of child support obligations that pose a barrier to employment. We are working with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the law firm of Arent Fox to develop an expanded project to address housing and benefits needs as well.

We are thrilled that Jennifer Cheung has accepted the fellowship and will be joining Legal Aid’s staff on September 9. Jennifer has worked the last two and a half years as a staff attorney in the Mental Health Law Project of MFY Legal Services in New York. At MFY she carried an active caseload on a broad range of issues and participated in systemic advocacy.

Arent Fox has adopted the veterans’ project as part of the Senior Attorney Initiative for Legal Services (SAILS), a joint initiative of the Access to Justice Commission and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Program. SAILS is working with area law firms to support partners who are transitioning from active firm practice to make a substantial commitment to local legal services organizations. Marc Fleischaker of Arent Fox Chairs SAILS and has committed his firm to work with Legal Aid to serve veterans.

Low-income and homeless veterans face a host of problems from physical and mental disabilities to indifferent and dysfunctional governmental agencies. Barriers to employment or housing stability compound the challenges that they face. This project will be designed target veterans’ unique needs and hopefully by leverage the resources of Legal Aid, the Legal Clinic for the Homeless and Arent Fox, we can make a difference.

Chief Operations Officer

The Legal Aid Society’s Consumer Unit continues to work to preserve affordable and sustainable housing despite the most difficult situations.  One area that Wendy Weinberg, Supervising Attorney of the Unit, and Jennifer Ngai, Equal Justice AmeriCorps Fellow, both focus on are foreclosures that result from fraudulent and/or predatory lending.  Jen shares the story of client with whom our Consumer Unit has successfully intervened on behalf of to prevent a foreclosure. 

Unfortunately, stories like the one shared here are all too common in the District of Columbia.  Funding cuts proposed in the District’s budget threaten to further limit the ability for legal services programs to continue at their current levels let alone grow the program to meet the increasing need.  Legal Aid is grateful to the opportunities provided by organization like Equal Justice / AmeriCorps program as it has allowed us to expand our staffing in this unit.

Jennifer Ngai Equal Justice/AmeriCorps Fellow

Legal Aid’s EJW AmeriCorps Fellow Attends Obama and Biden Address at the White House

Yesterday, amidst a string of phone calls with banks and trustee’s attorneys, one call caught me by surprise in the best of ways – an invitation to come to the White House to hear President Obama and Vice President Biden give an address on the nation’s progress so far under the economic stimulus package.  When?  Today — the one-year anniversary of the Recovery Act.

David Stern, CEO of Equal Justice Works, Cole McMahon, EJW’s AmeriCorps Senior Program Manager and Jennifer Ngai

Through funding provided by the Recovery Act, I was able to join Legal Aid’s Consumer Law Program in October 2009 as an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Recovery Fellow.  My particular fellowship was created by a partnership between Equal Justice Works, the Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance (IFLA) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to increase legal representation to homeowners at risk of foreclosure.  I attended today’s White House event with David Stern, CEO of Equal Justice Works, and Cole McMahon, EJW’s AmeriCorps Senior Program Manager.

President Obama & Vice President Biden

During his address, President Obama hailed the one-year anniversary of the passage of the economic stimulus and recovery package, acknowledging at first that the measure had not necessarily been politically popular, but then proceeding to highlight the benefits and successes of the package one after another.  From widespread tax breaks for working Americans, to job creation, to investment in progressive technology and infrastructure, the president noted the many ways in which Recovery Act funds have been used to address the deep economic trouble facing the country when he took office.  President Obama stated that the Recovery Act is largely responsible for the country averting a second Great Depression, noting that the economy has gone from shrinking by 6 percent to growing by about that same figure.  Vice President Biden’s remarks conveyed a consistent message – the Recovery Act is working.

Here at Legal Aid, we have seen some of the benefits of the Recovery Act first-hand, most notably with the dramatic expansion of our Consumer Law Program, which launched in September 2008 with the addition of Wendy Weinberg as supervising attorney.  Thanks in large part to the Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Recovery Fellowship program, Legal Aid’s foreclosure practice is now able to serve low-income homeowners not only through litigation, but also through mediation with servicer banks to obtain mortgage modifications and through extensive community education and outreach.

Equal Justice AmeriCorps Recovery Fellow

Legal Aid recently became a Community Partner with public broadcasting network WHUT Howard University Television as part of a nationwide programming initiative to increase awareness about the current mortgage crisis and to connect homeowners facing foreclosure with various trusted community resources.  On December 1^st, WHUT announced the launch of its new “Facing the Mortgage Crisis” website, connecting Washington, D.C. area residents with local Community Partners that provide mortgage- and foreclosure-related information and services, including Legal Aid, Homefree USA, Manna, Inc., HUD, and the Greater Washington Urban League.  The website also contains downloadable community fliers in English, Spanish, and Amharic. 

Legal Aid began handling foreclosure prevention work in September 2008 with the launch of its Consumer Law Program headed by supervising attorney Wendy Weinberg.  Legal Aid recently expanded its foreclosure practice in October 2009 with the addition of Jen Ngai, an Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Recovery Fellow.  Legal Aid assists low-income clients facing foreclosure by litigating cases involving mortgage-related fraud, negotiating with servicer banks to obtain mortgage modifications, and conducting related community education and outreach.  The partnership with WHUT will help get the word out about this important anti-foreclosure work.