May 12, 2020

Community Legal Aid awarded $50,000 grant

BY Submitted ArticleSentinel & Enterprise

WORCESTER — Community Legal Aid has been awarded a grant of $50,000 from the Worcester Together Fund, enabling the expansion of help to low-wage workers affected by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 health crisis.

CLA, which has an office in Fitchburg, is a nonprofit legal services organization serving the low-income and elderly residents of Central and Western Massachusetts.

With unemployment at a record high, the grant from the Worcester Together Fund will allow CLA to hire an attorney dedicated to providing legal services to low-wage employees affected by the crisis. This attorney will assist clients in a number of ways, including answering workers’ questions about their eligibility for unemployment benefits, filing appeals of behalf of workers who are denied benefits, helping workers access the new federal sick and FMLA leaves, and protecting the rights of employees facing discrimination related to COVID-19.

The grant to CLA is part of over $1 million awarded by the Worcester Together Fund to organizations within Worcester County providing aid to the region’s vulnerable populations affected by the public health crisis. The Worcester Together Fund is a partnership of the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the United Way of Central Massachusetts, in cooperation with the City of Worcester.

Community Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to the low-income and elderly residents of the five counties of Central and Western Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester), and maintains full-time offices in Worcester, Fitchburg, Springfield, Northampton and Pittsfield. Community Legal Aid works to assure fairness for all in the justice system, protecting homes, livelihoods, health and families.

Its client communities continue to need its services and CLA is committed to meeting those needs. For more information on Community Legal Aid, visit communitylegal.org. Anyone wishing to apply for services is welcome to call the intake line at 855-CLA-LEGAL (855-252-5342) or apply online at https://communitylegal.org/get-help.