Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance
Press Release
For more information call: Joan Burda at 216/635-0768 or Brian Davis at 216/432-0540
Legal Assistance to those Struggling Suffers Set Back After Community Legal Services Closes
In the last month, Community Legal Services shut its doors, leaving the Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland with the sole responsibility for providing pro bono legal assistance to those who cannot afford a lawyer. This creates a huge strain on these providers. The need for volunteer lawyers has never been greater in Northeast Ohio.
Community Legal Services was a program of Lutheran Metro Ministry, formerly known as the Christian Legal Services. The program was six years old and formed when Catholic, Lutheran and a few smaller Christian denominations combined their outreach efforts. The Board of Lutheran Metro Ministry made the decision in late May to shut the program down. This created a hole in the community’s pro bono legal assistance strategy to provide justice for all. Community Legal Services concentrated in Probate and Landlord/Tenant Issues.
Without Community Legal Services, Joan Burda, program director of the Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program anticipates an increase in requests for help. “We saw a record number of people in 2005 and now with the loss of Community Legal Services, we anticipate that many more people will be turned away in the future. Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program needs volunteers to make sure that everyone in need has effective and competent legal representation,” According to Burda.
In 2005, NEOCH’s Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program (CHLAP) served 625 clients, a 225-client increase from 2004. CHLAP has worked to answer questions and empower them to undertake relatively simple legal proceedings on their own with the development of a pro se clinic. By diligently seeking out local law students, paralegals and lawyers, CHLAP hopes to continue to improve justice for all Greater Clevelanders.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is also involved in providing services to those in need of legal representation.
With Community Legal Services closing, CHLAP staff and the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland anticipate an increase in the number of volunteers needed to provide legal representation to impoverished people in Cleveland. CHLAP needs local paralegals, law students and lawyers to devote a portion of their time to help this cause. Possible volunteer activities include staffing a clinic, legal research, administrative help or taking at least one case a year. There is a pressing need for lawyers to represent clients in landlord/tenant, family law and expungement cases.
If you or someone you know can volunteer to provide legal assistance, please call Joan Burda at 216/635-0768. Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program is collaborative effort between the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and the Cleveland Bar Association.
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