Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance
Press Release
For more information call: Brian Davis at (216)432-0543
Volunteers Needed to Fulfill Demand for Legal Assistance
The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), in partnership with the Cleveland Bar Association, has implemented a program to provide legal assistance for people who cannot afford a lawyer. The Cleveland Homeless Legal Assistance Program (CHLAP) is one of only two organizations solely responsible for providing pro bono legal help for homeless and low-income individuals.
CHLAP is in need of more volunteers to provide legal representation to impoverished people. CHLAP needs 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.
In 2005, CHLAP served 625 clients, a 36% increase over 2004. CHLAP has worked to answer questions and empower individuals 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.
One of our volunteers is Patrick McGraw who oversees a clinic at the Community Women’s Shelter every month. Attorney McGraw has been associated with CHLAP since 2001. Born in Radford, VA, he earned his law degree from Harvard University Law School. McGraw’s interest in the problem of homelessness was originally sparked by his wife’s volunteer work in a homeless shelter in Toledo. After moving to Cleveland, the experience of direct contact with homeless individuals prompted him to call NEOCH and offer his services. Before his retirement, he devoted much of his spare time to volunteering through the Homeless Legal Assistance Program, often doing intake at women’s shelters. He continues to participate in this type of work today by volunteering every month for the legal clinic.
Although his interest in homelessness extends to both men and women, he bases his efforts more on women because of his belief that women’s homeless issues are far more complicated. From trying to retrieve personal property from a landlord or finding a way to retrieve a security deposit paid on an apartment to the agony of custody issues—these are just a few of the issues women must overcome. Many of his cases are also related to public assistance, health care, disability, or the need for SSI. Pat McGraw treats all of his clients with dignity, consistent with his belief in the essential worth of all people, regardless of their high, low or middle-class status in society.
CHLAP needs attorneys to take one case a year or to staff a clinic for two hours, once a month.
If you or someone you know can volunteer to provide legal assistance, please call Joan Burda at 216-635-0768.