Posted December 8, 20184:00 am
Published in the December 10, 2018 issue of Crain's Cleveland Business
By Jeremy Nobile
In a space on Cleveland's West Sixth Street once crowded by rowdy drinkers with a penchant for country music, the bar and mechanical bull are being replaced by lawyers helping the needy.
That's been the plan ever since the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland established its headquarters in the Warehouse District in the late 1970s. However, for years the nonprofit organization simply didn't need to take over that adjacent space — until now.
As demand for legal support for low-income populations only continues to grow, the timing couldn't be better for Cleveland legal aid's first-ever expansion in downtown Cleveland, as well as its first major fundraising campaign.
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, which covers the five counties of Greater Cleveland, impacted some 18,000 people through more than 7,700 cases in 2017. This year's numbers are trending even higher.
Yet, according to the federal Legal Services Corp., only 14% of the legal needs of low-income people in America are ever met. (The LSC distributes 93% of its funding to 133 independent legal aid organizations, providing about 30% of the budgetfor both Cleveland's group and Community Legal Aid in Akron.)
Colleen Cotter, executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, noted that for every two people who complete intakes at her organization, one is turned away due to a lack of resources.
"And the legal needs of people with low income continue to grow in number, type and complexity," she added. "This, in turn, affects how the Cleveland regional economy can grow. If generational poverty persists, that holds back our region."
To further grow and diversify resources, her group launched The Campaign for Legal Aid at the beginning of the year.
The five-year fundraising campaign will run through December 2022 with the general goal of raising $10 million to $15 million.
That money will be applied to a variety of uses. About 10% of the campaign will go toward capital and help finance the West Sixth Street expansion. Another 20% will help build up the organization's endowment, which stands at about $170,000.
The rest will go toward programs. Those range from establishing more medical-legal partnerships — like ones Cleveland legal aid has with The MetroHealth System, St. Vincent Charity Hospital and University Hospitals Rainbow Women and Children's Center — to removing barriers to opportunity. That means increasing representation of people facing eviction, or who need a driver's license reinstated or an old criminal record sealed.
"Legal Aid is poised to do even greater work," said board president Karen Giffen. "This campaign will help us get there."
It was over the course of plotting out the campaign that legal aid realized it needed room to grow its Cleveland headquarters, where some lawyers share a single office.
A landlord no longer
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland had been renting out about 6,500 square feet of space adjacent to its offices since settling on West Sixth Street around 1977.
Doing so offered a novel income stream to the organization. The space was home to a diner and a liquor store before becoming the Tequila Ranch bar, which operated there for 15 years.
The business, which paid nearly $100,000 a year in rent, was doing fine, Cotter said. But legal aid declined to renew the lease in June because it simply needs the space. The expansion into the former bar will add that 6,500 square feet to the 30,000 square feet the group currently occupies.
The fundraising campaign will help offset the lost rental income.
"Giving up that tenant is a big deal. To take this leap we had to be confident of the success of the campaign. Not only do we need to pay for the renovation, but we also need to make up that $100,000 per year in other funds," Cotter said. "Devoting our entire building to serving the civil legal needs of people with low income is the right thing to do. And we are confident the campaign will be a success."
Legal aid is investing about $1.8 million into renovating the space, which will reopen for legal aid purposes in February, with the overall project slated for completion in May.
Beyond some aesthetic upgrades, the project will rebuild the elevator and create a new, friendlier first-floor lobby (replacing the one currently on the second floor in the original space). It'll also add a variety of new conference and work spaces for lawyers, paralegals and other volunteers, like those in the ACT 2 program that pairs retired attorneys with low-income people seeking legal help.
Meanwhile, increased funding should help grow Cleveland legal aid's staff from its present 81 people to 88.
It also will help support phase one of the nonprofit's innovative Housing Justice Alliance in 2019.
Legal aid currently represents just 1%-2% of tenants facing eviction in Cleveland housing court.
"With funds raised in this campaign, we will increase that to 10% of tenants," Cotter said. "We will study the effectiveness of that increase in representation and work toward a situation in which 100% of low-income tenants who want a lawyer in an eviction have one. This will increase housing stability, improve housing conditions, and our community will be stronger."
Although needs always outpace resources, the situation would be much worse in Cleveland if not for philanthropic support.
Cleveland legal aid's budget has actually steadily grown the last few years, from $7.1 million in 2016 to $9.5 million in 2018. Its board approved a 2019 budget of $10.8 million.
Some of that is coming from the LSC, which President Donald Trump has marked for defunding the past couple years.
There's also been an increase in funds from the Ohio Assistance Legal Foundation, which distributes interest on lawyer trust accounts (known as IOLTA).
And that's all on top of growth in general charitable giving, including what's already been collected in the campaign, which has brought in $4 million so far in 2018.
Thanks to community support, the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland's growth is able to keep pace as the legal needs of the population it serves continue to grow as well.
"It has been so gratifying to see that growth in support from individuals, law firms, corporations and foundations," Cotter said. "We have earned the trust of the community. They see legal aid as an investment. We would not launch this campaign without that growing, steady, annual support."
"Legal Aid is poised to use these additional funds efficiently and effectively," Giffen added. "We have identified our areas for growth. We have incredibly talented staff. We have strong partnerships. We have a strong volunteer lawyers program. We are ready to take on this additional work, with additional resources to support it."