November 4, 2015

CLA receives $15,000 to fund its Legal Education Partnership with Greenfield Community College

As appeared in MassLive

By Jim Kinney | jkinney@repub.com on November 03, 2015 at 2:26 PM, updated November 03, 2015 at 3:07 PM

GREENFIELD — Community Legal Aid has announced receipt of a $15,000 grant from the Franklin Fund of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts to fund a second year of its Legal Educational Partnership with Greenfield Community College.

The Partnership is an innovative collaboration between CLA and GCC that places a CLA legal advocate on campus to provide income-eligible students with information about their legal rights, government benefits eligibility screening, and legal help.

Jonathan Mannina, Community Legal Aid’s Executive Director, said:

“This one-stop approach to solving students’ non-academic problems by resolving legal matters that impede economic stability will help clear the path for students’ successful educational and professional careers.”

In the project’s first year, Wendy Kane, a CLA benefits advocate with over 30 years of experience, worked in collaboration with Rosemarie Freeland, the Coordinator of GCC’s Women’s Resource Center, to let students, faculty and staff know about the project, schedule on-campus intakes to discuss legal problems, and screen students to make sure they were maximizing their income. CLA then assisted more than 30 GCC students with legal issues including domestic violence, divorce, child support, visitation, custody, eviction, government benefits and denial of housing subsidies.

Robert Pura, President of Greenfield Community College, called the first year of the program a “huge success” and looks forward to “continuing to build and strengthen this critical and innovative partnership.”

Community Legal Aid ensures fairness in the justice system by providing free legal services to over 5,000 low-income and elderly residents of western and central Massachusetts each year.

CLA has full-time offices in Northampton, Pittsfield, Springfield, and Worcester, as well as satellite offices in North Adams, Greenfield, Fitchburg, Southbridge, and Milford.