May 30, 2018

United Way of Hampshire County Grant To Address Veterans’ Civil Legal Needs

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 May 30, 2018

Contact                                                                                       
Faye B. Rachlin, Deputy Director
Phone: (508) 425-2794
Email:  frachlin@cla-ma.org

Community Legal Aid (CLA) is pleased to acknowledge a generous three-year grant that it has received from the United Way of Hampshire County to address veterans’ civil legal needs.  CLA will work closely with the Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center to improve the health of Hampshire County’s veterans and their families by tackling their unmet health-harming legal needs. These legal needs include discharge status upgrades (leading to increased eligibility for veteran-specific services) and access to affordable housing, healthcare and benefits programs. Under the partnership supported by the United Way funding, CLA will train VA medical providers to screen for legal needs, and CLA advocates will accept referrals for direct legal advocacy for veterans and establish a regular presence on-site at the VA to meet with veterans and staff.

When awarding the grant, John Bidwell, the Executive Director of the United Way, said, “The need is clear and we expect that the work to be done under the grant will be impactful. The United Way especially appreciates the partnership between CLA and the Northampton VA, as our community continues in its efforts to provide meaningful, holistic services to veterans.”

Jonathan Mannina, CLA’s Executive Director, expressed his gratitude to the United Way of Hampshire County, saying, “We are delighted to be a partner agency of the United Way, and we are excited to start our collaboration with the VA. We believe that providing holistic legal services to veterans is one of our most important ways of serving the community.”