LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Mission: Housing Conservation Coordinators is a community-based, not-for-profit organization anchored in the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan’s West Side. We are dedicated to advancing social and economic justice and fighting for the rights of poor, low-income and working individuals and families. With a primary focus on strengthening and preserving affordable housing, we seek to promote a vibrant and diverse community with the power to shape its own future. HCC’s dedicated legal services include full legal representation, pre-litigation advocacy, assistance in identifying and applying for public benefits like SCRIE and SNAP, support for consumer debt reduction, abuse prevention and redress, immigration services, and elder law including end of life directives. HCC leverages its own expertise in housing and benefits law and advocacy in partnership with “our partners” other CBOs and citywide legal service organizations to coordinate services and fully address client needs.
Website: https://www.hcc-nyc.org/volunteer/probono.htm
Email: info@hcc-nyc.org
Phone: 212-541-5996
What volunteers do:
lawyers staff legal clinic and provide free information on a variety of legal topics
FYI:
clinic operates Monday evenings, beginning at 7 p.m.
training provided by HCC staff, who supervise volunteer attorneys
Borough: Manhattan
Mission: Legal Hand provides information and assistance to help visitors resolve problems before they become court cases and empowers visitors to help themselves.
Website: https://www.legalhand.org/volunteer
Email: eastharlem@legalhand.org
Phone: n/a
What volunteers do:
· provide free legal information, assistance, and referrals to help resolve issues in areas such as housing, family, domestic violence, immigration, and public benefits
· when needed, assist visitors with court forms
FYI:
no legal background required
must be comfortable using a computer
minimum commitment is one three-hour shift per week for a six-month period
training provided
volunteers do not provide legal advice; limits of non-lawyer advice are clearly explained during training
Borough: Manhattan (East Harlem)
Mission: Our mission is to defend and promote the fundamental principles and values embodied in the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution, and the New York Constitution, including freedom of speech and religion, and the right to privacy, equality and due process of law for all New Yorkers. We believe that all New Yorkers have inalienable rights that cannot be taken away by the government or by majority vote. They are: 1) Freedom of speech, press, petition and assembly. Even unpopular expression is protected from government suppression and censorship. 2) Freedom of religion. Each of us has the right to exercise his or her own religion, or no religion, free from any government influence or compulsion. 3) Privacy. We have the right to be free from unwarranted and unwanted government intrusion into our personal and private affairs, papers and possessions. 4) Due process of law. We have right to be treated fairly by the government whenever the loss of liberty or property is at stake. 5) Equality before the law. We have the right to be treated equally regardless of nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, disability or socio-economic status. The NYCLU fights for civil liberties and civil rights through a multi-layered program of litigation, advocacy, public education and community organizing. Our clients are men and women, rich and poor, gay and straight, black, white and brown, young and old, religious and atheist, able-bodied and living with a disability, citizens and immigrants. When we vindicate their rights, all New Yorkers benefit.
Website: https://www.nyclu.org/get-involved/volunteer
Volunteer sign-up form: https://secure.everyaction.com/ssCbBhITCEGRQdrsRQZ1rQ2
Phone: 212-607-3300
Email: n/a
What volunteers do:
online activism
grassroots lobbying
community organizing
lobby with NYCLU in Albany (next day of action March 13, 2017)
monitor protests
writing/journalism
research
help fundraise
graphic design
multimedia support
translate (Arabic , Chinese , French, Hindi, Korean, Kreyol, Polish, Spanish, Russian, Urdu)
photography/videography
education
Mission: Founded in 1990, the New York Legal Assistance Group provides high quality, free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers who cannot afford attorneys. Our comprehensive range of services includes direct representation, case consultation, advocacy, community education, training, financial counseling, and impact litigation. NYLAG assists victims of domestic violence, immigrants seeking citizenship, elderly New Yorkers in need of public benefits and homecare, children with special needs, tenants at risk of foreclosure and eviction. NYLAG is unique for its ability to serve not only the abject poor, but also individuals and families who earn slightly above the government-designated poverty threshold. We’re able to serve this population because we neither apply for, nor do we receive, Federal Legal Services Corporation (LSC) funding. NYLAG has 125 community offices located in courts, hospitals, and community based organizations in all five boroughs of New York City as well as Westchester, Rockland and Long Island. We also partner with over 600 health and human services agencies across the City to provide cross-referrals and ensure holistic care for New Yorkers in need.
Website: https://nylag.org/volunteers/
Email: volunteer@NYLAG.org
Phone: 212-613-5000
What volunteers do:
retired attorneys, attorneys in transition, law students and law graduates interact directly with clients and provide legal and factual research, litigation preparation, client advocacy, discovery, motion practice under supervision of NYLAG attorneys (commit to working minimum of 2 days or 15 hours per week either at NYLAG’s Manhattan headquarters or at community offices across the five boroughs)
translate and interpret
administration
development
finance
general operations
Mission: The Right to Counsel NYC Coalition led the campaign to make it a right for tenants to have a lawyer when facing eviction in NYC, inspiring a Right to Counsel movement across the country. We continue to work to stop the eviction crisis in NYC that has threatened our families, our neighborhoods, and our homes for too long.
Website: https://www.righttocounselnyc.org/takeaction
Volunteer signup form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfoHrr2qThd33KIvc0csp50MPumvwjlM3eWINE6DVKkrHYwCg/viewform
Email: info@righttocounselnyc.org
Phone: n/a
What volunteers do:
Court Watch volunteers talk to tenants in the hallways of the housing courts, letting them know their rights
FYI:
Court Watch shifts are 9:30 a.m. to noon on weekdays