Posted November 23, 20161:45 pm
From The Plain Dealer (full story below, or click here for Cleveland.com version):
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Jones Day lawyer Dick Pogue, a longtime supporter of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, challenged nearly 1,000 attendees at its annual meeting on Monday to help him "lighten his wallet," offering to match dollar-for-dollar any donations made through Dec. 1, up to $25,000.
Within a day of Pogue issuing that challenge, Legal Aid said it has received nearly the entire $50,000 -- enough money to hire another staff attorney for a year.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, which is marking its 111th year, is one of the largest and oldest such institutions in the country, providing free civil legal services to some of the neediest people in their regions, including those living in poverty, victims of domestic violence, consumer fraud, and unfair evictions.
"We began by serving the poor and vulnerable in 1905 out of the Williamson Building on Public Square," Executive Director Colleen Cotter told the gathering at the Hilton Downtown Cleveland Hotel."Cleveland was where the action was, doubling in size every 20 years. Then as now, Legal Aid was in this dynamic community's mix, changing lives in what was then called 'the best governed city in America.'"
Within that decade, many of the city's progressive institutions were also founded, including the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Playhouse Square, United Way, The City Club of Cleveland, the Cleveland Music Settlement, and the Cleveland Foundation. The Legal Aid Society is the nation's fifth oldest.
Legal Aid this week recognized serving 19,673 clients in 2015, including: 69 percent women; 47 percent households with children; 16 percent older adults; and 84 percent with annual household incomes of less than $25,000.
Those clients were coping with evictions, foreclosures, domestic abuse, barriers to education, lack of health insurance and other benefits. Vanetta Jamison, the first non-attorney president of Legal Aid Society's board of directors, represents one of eight community representatives who qualify as Legal Aid clients, because they have been homeless, have had children struggle for school services, have lived in public housing, and are veterans who understand the challenges of others like them.
Yet "we could only help 43 percent of the people who came to us," Cotter said. "And we are not alone. Legal aid programs across the country turn away 50 percent of those who are eligible.
"We just do not have the resources to match the need in our community; 57 percent of the people asking for help we had to turn away. That hurts. Even a good day has a bittersweet edge."
"Pushing that boulder up the hill, how can we possibly succeed?" Cotter asked. "But we do. Each client story builds upon another. And while we cannot help everyone, we did help nearly 20,000 people last year."
She said none of the joy or happiness Clevelanders felt about the Cavaliers winning the NBA Finals Championship "can come anywhere near the joy felt by [Legal Aid clients] when they got their jobs back, or their back pay, or saw the road to work cleared before them."
"This is one way to look at our mission -- we bring joy," she said. "What's what we do."
In 1995, Dettelbach prosecuted and eventually one convictions in what was then the largest human trafficking case ever brought to the U.S., on behalf of 70 Thai women who were imprisoned and forced to work in a garment factory in California.
"From his first day as U.S. Attorney, Steve Dettelbach reached out to Legal Aid to build a partnership. No other U.S. Attorney had done that before," said Karen Giffen, vice president of Legal Aid's board and a founding partner at Giffen & Kaminski law firm.
"He ensured that his team was engaged with Legal Aid on a variety of issues to support the most vulnerable in our communities, addressing issues of language access, human trafficking, community safety, and consumer scams. He invited Legal Aid to engage in important community conversations. Legal Aid is honored to call Steve our partner and our friend."
Dettelbach said: "The story of our community and our country has always been full of tough times. Real justice has never come easy, or cheap. But there have always been people willing to fight for it, using the law as a way to achieve justice, just like your grandfather and everyone at Legal Aid.
"I have no patience for giving up when times are tough, because people like [client] William Skinner need our help. I have no patience because people like Lou Stokes fought harder and longer and against greater odds than I ever will. And you can ask Dick Pogue, whom I am sure will tell you firsthand, that Lou would have no patience for giving up, either."
"Etched in stone above the entrance to the federal courthouse where I fought for seven years is Dr. King's quote: 'A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'
"Now more than ever we need to really hear those words. It does not matter if the threat it three or 300 miles away -- justice is jeopardized in that courthouse, throughout Ohio, across America. And so it is on us, here and now, to pitch in to fight for justice. To act.
"Let's start by doing more to support Legal Aid. Your generosity will change lives. Will rescue families. Will help shape this city and region. We're so grateful for Dick Pogue's generous $25,000 matching pledge today... But don't stop there. Now more than ever give them your time, your energy. Volunteer at a brief advice clinic. Take on a pro bono case. Do something -- anything -- to help them fulfill their critical mission as the safety net for the most vulnerable and disenfranchised in Ohio.
Addressing his children, he concluded: "Allie and David, when the storm is coming, we don't turn tail and run. When the storm is coming, we get in the darn boat and row -- we row hard, we row together, and we row towards better weather. Towards better times. Towards justice."
"Everyone. Not just some. Everyone."
Legal Aid's annual luncheon also honored:
-- More than 125 lawyers who have served on five or more pro bono cases, or volunteered more than 100 hours with Legal Aid.
-- Legacy of Justice Award winner John Kim, a lawyer who retired from corporate practice and now volunteers every week at Legal Aid, including 470 hours within the last 18 months. The Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel also received a Legacy of Justice Award.
-- Access to Justice Award winner Patrick McGraw, a retired lawyer who volunteered 125 hours and staffed 30 brief advice clinics within the last 18 months.
-- Access to Justice Award winner Elizabeth Hendricks, an in-house volunteer who contributed 277 pro bono hours in 2016.
-- Community Impact Award winners J.Luke Lindberg and Ryan Ellis of the Ashtabula County Community Outreach Clinic, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's Women in Law Section, and the Lorain County Bar Association.
-- Lifetime Achievement Award winner Ann McGowan Porath, who joined Legal Aid in 1982 and now anchors its Volunteer Lawyers Program and manages its intake system.