Posted November 17, 202010:24 am
On Tuesday, December 8, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland will hold its 115th Annual Meeting & Report to the Community as an online livestream. For the first time ever, the event will be free and open for all to join: register online at www.lasclev.org/2020Event. The program, which starts at noon, will feature keynote remarks from The Honorable Justice Goodwin Liu of California’s Supreme Court.
The theme of this year’s event is: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them,” a statement credited to the renowned activist, journalist, and educator Ida B. Wells (1862 – 1931). Wells’s role in U.S. suffrage movement was inextricably linked to her lifelong crusade against racism, violence, and discrimination towards African Americans.
This year, Legal Aid’s Annual Meeting will be both reflective and celebratory, with a focus on the organization’s longtime and current work to shine a light of hope in the face of injustice.
While 2020 has been characterized by great uncertainty, Legal Aid has sustainably grown its programs, service delivery models, staff, and tenacious group of engaged volunteers. Legal Aid helped thousands of Northeast Ohio residents weather the coronavirus pandemic and secure basic needs such as safety, shelter, economic stability.
A number of awards will be presented at the meeting to honor staff and volunteers. Among the staff being honored is Susan Stauffer, Esq., an attorney who has worked at Legal Aid for 50 years – since 1970. She will be presented with the C. Lyonel Jones Lifetime Achievement Award, named in honor of C. Lyonel Jones (1932 – 2006), who himself dedicated his entire legal career to Legal Aid and served as Executive Director. In addition, Tracy Ferron, Hilda Hernandez, Heather Lynch, and Laura Post will be presented with the Claude E. Clarke Award, and Deborah Dallman, Esq. will be presented with the staff Leadership Award.
Legal Aid’s Volunteer Lawyers Program is proud to present the Community Impact Award to attorneys Jason Dawicke, Donna Kolis, Betsy Rader, and Christina Royer. These individuals were pivotal to the successful launch of Legal Aid’s new Virtual Advice Clinics during COVID-19 to ensure legal information, advice, and guidance was provided to people facing employment and unemployment compensation issues. Nearly 200 Legal Aid clients and their family members were served by these four volunteers in the past year.
Legal Aid looks forward to welcoming community members, nonprofit leaders, civic-minded business professionals, philanthropists, and local attorneys to its unique online celebration of progress and the pursuit of justice.
For more information and to register, please visit www.lasclev.org/2020event.