November 27, 2023

Community Legal Aid launches annual fundraising campaign

BY Mary ByrneGreenfield Recorder

GREENFIELD — Community Legal Aid, an organization that provides free legal services to low-income and elderly residents, is launching its annual fundraising campaign with a goal of reaching $10,000 by the spring.

As part of the campaign kick off, the Franklin County Access to Justice host committee will hold a fundraising luncheon on Dec. 13, beginning at 1 p.m. at Hope & Olive, located at 44 Hope St. Last year, the campaign raised more than $6,000.

“Every day, we see families in poverty on the brink of losing their homes, victims of violence seeking protection orders, and parents fighting for custody of their children, all without a lawyer,” said Beth Crawford, co-chair of the Franklin County Access to Justice Committee. “Most of Community Legal Aid’s clients have household incomes that fall below 125% of the federal poverty level and truly do not have the means to hire a lawyer to protect their rights and advocate for them.”

In the last year, Community Legal Aid’s staff of attorneys and paralegals helped more than 400 elderly and low-income clients in Franklin County last year, impacting an estimated 1,000 residents trying to avoid homelessness, seeking safety from violence, and others fighting for life’s necessities.

Through its subsidiary, the Central West Justice Center, which has offices in Northampton, Pittsfield, Springfield and Worcester, it also helps refugees seeking humanitarian-based immigration relief, according to the organization.

“We are the sole civil legal aid provider for low-income folks and elders in the four western communities, as well as Worcester,” said Managing Attorney Jennifer Dieringer. “We handle folks’ most basic human needs, [physical] safety, food security, housing security, those kinds of things.”

Dieringer said the annual campaign, now about 15 years running, allows the organization to have the staffing to represent people and to provide legal services.

“We’re also in the process of opening a fully staffed, full-time office in Franklin County, which we haven’t had in many years,” she said. “For many years, we’ve been serving Franklin County folks from our Hampshire [County] office.”

Anyone who would like to support the work of Community Legal Aid can find more information or make a donation at www.communitylegal.org. To RSVP for the December luncheon, go to donorrelations@cla-ma.org or to p2p.onecause.com/franklin/event/lunch