May 11, 2020

Community Legal Aid Awarded Grant From Worcester Together Fund to Assist Low-Wage Workers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Thomas Navin, Development Director
Phone: (413) 727-7115
Email: tnavin@cla-ma.org

Community Legal Aid (CLA) 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 is a non-profit 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 our 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.

CLA is grateful to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, the United Way of Central Massachusetts, the City of Worcester, and all who have generously donated to the Worcester Together Fund, for supporting this important work.

About Community Legal Aid:

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.

Our client communities continue to need our services and we are committed to meeting those needs. For more information on Community Legal Aid please visit www.communitylegal.org. Anyone wishing to apply for services is welcome to call our intake line at: 855-CLA-LEGAL (855-252-5342) or apply online.