Congressman Donovan and LSC Announce Innovation Grant Supporting and Expanding Legal Services NYC’s Military Mondays

September 29, 2017, STATEN ISLAND, NY— Congressman Dan Donovan, Legal Services Corporation (LSC) President Jim Sandman, and advocates from Legal Services NYC(LSNYC) gathered today at LSNYC’s Staten Island office to announce a new Pro Bono Innovation grant that will allow LSNYC to support and expand its groundbreaking Military Mondays project. (Photo:LSNYC Director of Pro Bono Adam Heintz, LSC President Jim Sandman, Staten Island Legal Services Project Director Nancy Goldhill, LSNYC Executive Director Raun Rasmussen, and Rep. Dan Donovan. Photo credit: Jeffrey Vock)  

LSC’s Pro Bono Innovation Fund is intended to encourage and expand robust pro bono efforts and partnerships to serve more low-income clients. This grant of $351,387 will fund LSNYC’s Military Mondays project, which brings together legal services, global law firms, and Fortune 500 companies including Skadden, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Starbucks, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, BNY Mellon, and others to provide needed legal assistance to low-income veterans. Through a combination of monthly legal clinics and ongoing representation, pro bono attorneys and LSNYC staff will help veterans with pressing issues including disability benefits, safe and affordable housing, and child support. 

Military Mondays will serve as a model for engaging significant numbers of new pro bono volunteers from corporations and law firms on behalf of veterans and other low-income people around the country. To facilitate replication, LSNYC will create a “start-up kit” for other legal services organizations that wish to create similar initiatives. LSNYC will in turn apply the knowledge and relationships that are developed from the project to dramatically expand its own work with corporations, serving hundreds of additional low income people with assistance from corporations during the grant period.

“The assistance provided by Legal Services NYC, particularly to veterans who are in need of legal counseling, is incredibly valuable,” said Representative Donovan. “As a former prosecutor, I know that navigating complex legal issues can be daunting. It’s a true service to the community that the less fortunate, including those who risked their lives for our country, can rely on Legal Services NYC.”

“We are grateful to Congress for establishing the Pro Bono Innovation Fund to increase pro bono support for civil legal aid,” said LSC President Sandman. “This grant program stimulates more volunteer participation in legal aid and allows our grantees to serve more people.”

“Legal Services NYC is thrilled that, with this support from the Legal Services Corporation, we can leverage our services for low-income veterans through partnerships with corporations and law firms in New York City,” said Raun Rasmussen, Executive Director of Legal Services NYC. “Low-income veterans have it hard. With this new funding, we can provide critical legal services to hundreds more individuals and families that need our help.”

“Skadden congratulates Legal Services NYC on the award of this grant, and commends the Legal Services Corporation for supporting the Military Mondays project,” said Brenna DeVaney, Pro Bono Counsel at Skadden. “Veterans deserve the highest quality legal services, especially when it comes to the essentials of life – like housing, benefits, and family. We are pleased to help offer pro bono legal assistance in all of these areas through the Military Mondays project, and look forward to working closely with Legal Services NYC and our corporate partners to serve hundreds of additional veterans in the coming years.”

In addition to the Pro Bono Innovation grant, LSC announced that Legal Services NYC will also receive a $102,750 Technology Initiative Grant to improve technology used in its Housing Repair and Harassment clinics. The project will integrate LawHelp Interactive—a tool that generates legal forms based on self-represented litigants’ answers to a series of questions—with JustFix.nyc, which provides an online platform to help New Yorkers facing neglectful housing situations. Established in 2000, LSC’s Technology Initiative Grant program supports projects that develop and replicate technologies to improve efficiency and provide greater access to high-quality legal assistance.

“Legal Services NYC provides invaluable legal assistance to residents of the New York City area and this grant money from Legal Services Corporation will help them provide even more assistance to low-income veterans and other litigants in my district,” said Representative Eliot Engel in a statement. “I applaud Legal Services NYC for the work they do and will continue to support them at the federal level, because justice should not be reserved for those who can afford high priced representation.”

“Legal Services NYC is a critical part of the safety net in our city for those who have nowhere else to turn to help them with legal problems involving housing, public assistance, domestic violence, and other issues,” added Representative José Serrano. “It provides more than just legal representation- it serves as an instrument to help fight social and racial injustice by helping more than 80,000 low-income New Yorkers each year. This funding will help LSNYC serve more clients with greater efficiency. Civil legal assistance for those who can’t otherwise afford a lawyer is an essential part of making our constitutional values available to everyone. As Ranking Member of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Legal Services Corporation, I will continue fighting to ensure this program is well funded to help ensure equal justice under the law.”

About Legal Services NYC: Legal Services NYC fights poverty and seeks racial, social, and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. For nearly 50 years, we have challenged systemic injustice and helped clients meet basic needs for housing, access to high-quality education, health care, family stability, and income and economic security. LSNYC is the largest civil legal services provider in the country, with deep roots in all of the communities we serve. Our neighborhood-based offices and outreach sites across all five boroughs help more than 80,000 New Yorkers annually.

About Legal Services Corporation: Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974 to provide financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 133 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.

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