LSHV Receives $210,140 Pro Bono Innovation Fund Grant

White Plains, NY – The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) announced that Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV), the only provider of comprehensive civil legal services to those that cannot afford an attorney in the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley, will receive a $210,140 Pro Bono Innovation Fund grant. LSC’s Pro Bono Innovation Fund is intended to encourage and expand robust pro bono efforts and partnerships to serve more low-income clients.

LSHV will use the grant to expand its Pro Bono Housing Project. The grant will allow the agency to recruit and train pro bono volunteers from law firms to provide full representation to clients facing housing emergencies including wrongful evictions.

Barbara Finkelstein, LSHV’s CEO, said, “Due to the overwhelming need for free civil legal services, our staff is not able to serve all the clients that come to us for help. The Pro Bono Innovation Fund Grant will enable us to address this gap in services, by engaging attorneys at private firms to volunteer their time and expertise on cases that the agency wouldn’t otherwise be able to handle. While LSHV impacts tens of thousands of people in in the Hudson Valley each year, we are excited at this opportunity to assist even more of our vulnerable neighbors.”

Representative Nita Lowey applauded the grant. “Legal Services of the Hudson Valley does critical work, providing high-quality, comprehensive legal services to low-income individuals and families throughout the Lower Hudson Valley,” said Lowey. “Every person, regardless of their economic status, deserves full access to legal protections, and, with this funding, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley will ensure that more people in our community receive that access. As Ranking Member on the House Appropriations Committee, I will continue to secure these types of federal resources to directly benefit the Lower Hudson Valley.”

“We are grateful to Congress for establishing the Pro Bono Innovation Fund and for increasing funding by $500,000 this year,” said Jim Sandman, President of LSC. “These grants stimulate more volunteer participation by the private bar, leverage the federal investment in civil legal aid, and allow our grantees to reach more people in need of civil legal assistance.”

LSHV is one of 15 recipients of grants from LSC’s $4.5 million Pro Bono Innovation Fund, a competitive program that invests in projects that identify and promote replicable innovations in pro bono for low-income legal aid clients. This is the fifth year LSC has awarded Pro Bono Innovation Fund grants.

LSHV is the only provider of free, comprehensive civil (non-criminal) legal services to low-income and disadvantaged individuals and families who cannot afford an attorney when their basic human needs are at stake. This includes urgent legal needs such as: domestic violence (orders of protection, child custody, etc.), housing emergencies (eviction and foreclosure prevention), healthcare, children's law and advocacy, disability and benefits, elder law, consumer fraud and more. Founded more than 50 years ago, LSHV serves the seven counties of the lower and mid-Hudson Valley (Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan), maintaining a staff of 135 individuals -- including 80 attorneys and 27 paralegals -- working across nine offices throughout its service area. Last year alone the organization handled 15,000 cases impacting more than 34,000 household members.

For more information about LSHV, please visit its website www.lshv.org.

To learn more about the Pro Bono Innovation Fund and to view other award recipients, visit https://www.lsc.gov/media-center/press-releases/2018/lsc-awards-fifth-round-pro-bono-innovation-grants-assist-low-income.