Power Station with Community Lawyering Initiative, Maryland Legal Aid Bureau

Published: July 9, 2018, 11:51 a.m.

Maryland Legal Aid is a lifeline for low-income people facing eviction, living with substandard housing conditions, seeking veteran's benefits and overcoming domestic abuse. MLAB, under the leadership of bridge-builder and advocate Wilhelm Joseph, is a robust nonprofit organization with 12 offices across the state. The newest program innovation, The Community Lawyering Initiative, is a mobile resource that connects people in need with lawyers. The Initiative partners lawyers with libraries, offering people help in non-threatening and comfortable surroundings within their communities. The experience of having decades old convictions expunged from their records is transformative in ways that are both pragmatic and psychological. They are now able to get employment and have access to housing and benefits. And they are freed from the weight of a record they have moved beyond. Amy and Meaghan's insights are instructive and enlightening. Learn about this model for serving and building power in disenfranchised communities.

 

 

 

talk about their innovative approach to helping low-income residents of Baltimore County expunge old criminal charges from their records.