Legal Services of Eastern Missouri Expands CED Team

September 6, 2018 (ST. LOUIS) – Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has recently hired three new staff members for the Community Economic Development (CED) Program.

Peter Hoffman and Melissa Slator will staff the newly formed Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative to assist neighborhood associations and community nonprofits in addressing the problem of vacant and abandoned housing in the City of St. Louis.

Hoffman is staff attorney for the Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School with a J.D. and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. Prior to joining Legal Services, he was Director of the “Adopt-a-Neighborhood” Project at Legal Aid of Western Missouri.

Slator is the Paralegal and Community Outreach Specialist for the Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative. She has more than thirty years of experience as a paralegal and was a paralegal with the Volunteer Lawyers Program at Legal Services prior to this role.

Marlene Elliott has joined Legal Services as an attorney with the Community Economic Development – Microenterprise Program. Elliott is a 2005 graduate of Drake University School of Law and in this role will be providing legal assistance for nonprofits and low-income entrepreneurs to start and grow their organizations and businesses.

About Legal Services of Eastern Missouri: Legal Services of Eastern Missouri has provided free civil legal help for low-income families for 62 years. In 2017 nearly 26,000 people in 21 counties of eastern Missouri received services from four regional offices. For more information, please visit www.lsem.org.