Message from CLS' Executive Director

I’m honored and thrilled to take the helm of Connecticut Legal Services at a time of such great opportunity. Two years ago, the legislature and governor authorized funding for a contract that expands our legal services to needy low-income people. This year, we are seeing the first signs of some increase in funding as a result of new court rules that require IOLTA accounts to pay interest rates comparable to those in the market. Support from our donors, United Ways, municipalities, and foundations continues to be steady.

With funding strong, we face an important question: What new and significant projects can we undertake to help low-income people in Connecticut? Our staff attorneys—from the newest to the most experienced—have been answering that question with impressive results.

  • Two of our newer attorneys, Megan McLeod and Jennifer Mellon, along with senior manager Nadine Nevins, are partnering with community activists to help immigrant day laborers whose employers refuse to pay them. McLeod spotted the issue through her public-benefits outreach in Stamford; Mellon is the first full-time immigration lawyer for CLS, working out of our Bridgeport office.
  • Another new attorney, Catherine Holahan, is leading a CLS effort to help schoolchildren suffering from mental health problems. Because of new “zero tolerance” policies at some schools, such children are often suspended from school and sometimes arrested, rather than being referred for services to help them cope with their problems.
  • One of our more experienced lawyers, Rick Brody, is litigating against a too-common illegal practice by landlords: requiring extra “side payments” from low-income tenants whose total rent is supposed to be limited by federal law to a reasonable percentage of their income.
  • Kevin Brophy, a senior manager with CLS, successfully represented a low-income woman who was harassed by a collection agency trying to collect a credit card debt she had repeatedly demonstrated was not hers.
  • Marvin Farbman, the former executive director of CLS, has reached an agreement with the city of Bridgeport and other government agencies to create hundreds of new scattered-site housing units in Bridgeport, replacing two housing projects previously torn down. The agreement includes a groundbreaking trust fund to support social services for the tenants in the new units.

We’re also looking to continue taking steps to fill in our service network, perennially stretched thin around the state. Anticipating the hiring of several new attorneys this spring, we look forward to filling some of the service gaps we have seen in family and housing law and in services to children and the elderly.

All this growth and opportunity would be impossible without your support. Please call or email me with any concerns, suggestions, or new opportunities.

Steve Eppler-Epstein
Executive Director
(860) 344-0447 x109

 

     
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