March 2021 News:
We Are in This Together
Dear Friend,

Last week’s attacks in Atlanta have been weighing heavily on me. The escalation in hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander community over the past year is only the latest chapter in the history of xenophobia and violence directed at Asian American Pacific Islanders. 

As a member of the broader Asian American Pacific Islander community, this time feels different. Unlike during previous waves of violence against our community, we as Asian American Pacific Islanders are raising our collective voices more prominently than we have ever done before. As my colleague Kachun Leung notes below, “[w]e can no longer afford to remain silent.”

At the same time, over the past week, communities across the country have declared their solidarity and allyship with Asian American Pacific Islanders, which is heartening. In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. shared that, "All life is interrelated, and we are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

Much remains to be done to address our country’s history of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, classism, and homophobia. Yet despite the horrific events of last week, I am cautiously optimistic that by working together in solidarity, we can ensure all Americans are treated with dignity and respect.

At VOLS, we fight every day to ensure that our clients can attain dignity, security, opportunity, and well-being. Our New York, Together campaign reflects our belief that during the pandemic and beyond, we are in this together.

In this month's newsletter, learn how you can join us: as a partner, as a volunteer, as a supporter, or as the newest member of our team!

In solidarity,
Abja

Abja Midha
Executive Director
Volunteers of Legal Service
#StopAsianHate: VOLS Denounces
Attacks on AAPI Community
On March 16, a shooter targeted three different salons and spas in the Atlanta-area. The shooting left eight people dead. Six of the victims were Asian American women. Enough is enough. VOLS calls on our city leaders and public officials to stand up against the rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. Read our full statement and reflection by Kachun Leung and Mai Toyohara, VOLS AmeriCorps VISTA members.
National Social Work Month:
VOLS Thanks Our Social Worker Partners
March is Social Work Month. VOLS celebrates the social workers who are integral to the services we provide to New Yorkers. The National Association of Social Workers has declared that the theme for this year's annual celebration of social workers is "Social Workers are Essential." We couldn't agree more. Civil legal services and social services go hand in hand, and our goal is much the same: that all New Yorkers can realize the dignity, security, and opportunity they deserve. Click here to read our full Social Work Month article.
Upcoming VOLS
Legal Education Events
VOLS is pleased to provide a number of legal education events next month. Those events where practicing attorneys can receive Continuing Legal Education credit are noted as such.

  • An Introduction to Public Benefits for New Yorkers with Limited Resources | April 7, 2021, from 10 to 11am
  • CLE Credit: 1 Professional Practice
  • Appropriate for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys
  • The training will cover basic eligibility for many federal, state, and local benefits.
  • Click here to register in advance

  • The VOLS Unemployed Workers Project Lunch & Learn | April 12, 2021, from 1 to 2pm
  • This presentation will provide a project overview, an overview of unemployment benefits, the latest updates on benefits under the American Rescue Plan and other stimulus programs, trending issues, and ways for new attorneys and law firms looking to get involved with our project.
  • Click here to register in advance

  • Cultural Competence and Humility in Pro Bono Practice | April 21, 2021 from 4 to 5pm
  • CLE Credit: 1 Diversity, Inclusion, and the Elimination of Bias
  • Appropriate for both experienced and newly admitted attorneys
  • This training will focus on the importance of cultural competency and cultural humility in pro bono legal services, with an emphasis on the professional responsibility and duties of all attorneys.
  • Click here to register in advance
Open Positions at VOLS
Spread the word: VOLS hiring! We are seeking a Staff Attorney for our Elderly Project with professional fluency in Spanish to help lead our efforts to expand services to Latinx seniors. We are also seeking a Senior Staff Attorney for our Microenterprise Project to represent the commercial tenant clients and supervise Staff Attorneys through the Commercial Lease Assistance (CLA) Program. We are seeking an Office Manager to support reception, operations, finance, fundraising, and human resources. Finally, VOLS is seeking two new AmeriCorps VISTA members who will serve a one-year public service fellowship hosted in conjunction with Fordham Law School's Feerick Center for Social Justice.
Updates from the VOLS Legal Team
Updates from the VOLS team
As VOLS-served communities face the threefold crises of pandemic, economic recession, and racial justice, our team reports with updates from across our legal programs: 

  • The VOLS Elderly Project & Veterans Initiative is looking forward to some day soon when New York City’s senior centers reopen their doors and we are able to resume our in-person legal clinics with our community partners and at the Manhattan VA Hospital. Until that time, we continue to find innovative ways to reach at-risk seniors and ensure that they are able to put their life plans in place with the assistance of our volunteer attorneys. Our remote model has allowed us to forge new partnerships during the pandemic, and we have been able to reach seniors in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. Staff Attorneys Alyssa Villareal and Josias Carrion recently presented to seniors about the importance of planning for the future as part of LiveOn NY's annual virtual conference. We're also grateful for our relationship with the Bay Ridge Heroes program, at the Bay Ridge Senior Center in Brooklyn, which launched launched in November 2020 to provide resources and services to the local 60+ veteran community. They recently featured our partnership in an interview with VOLS Staff Attorney for Housing Rights and Special Populations, Jess Penkoff.

  • The VOLS Immigration Project has been working around the clock to provide legal updates through newsletters and virtual community education forums to our clients, parents at International High School at Prospect Heights, and CUNY Initiative on Immigration and Education as well as community-based organizations. On February 18, the Citizenship Act of 2021 was introduced in both the House and Senate providing a path to a green card for 11 million undocumented immigrants, including expedited processes for DACA, TPS, DED and agricultural workers. Met with a lukewarm response, piecemeal legislation was subsequently introduced including the American Dream and Promise Act and Farm Workforce Modernization Act. On March 18, the House of Representatives passed the American DREAM and Promise Act by 228-197 votes. It would provide benefits to about 4 million Dreamers, TPS and DED recipients but it leaves out millions of immigrants who would be subject to dangerous immigration enforcement measures. However, the bill still faces an uphill battle in the Senate.  

  • The VOLS Unemployed Workers Project applauds the passage and signing of the American Rescue Act which extends eligibility for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programs through September 6, 2021. Under the Act, claimants are entitled to $300 weekly in addition to their weekly benefit rate and will ensure ongoing benefits for those who are still unemployed. The Rescue Act also made significant changes to the Federal Tax Code by exempting the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits received in 2020 from federal income tax. These changes will go far to ensure that those who have been hardest hit by the pandemic are able to make ends meet until they are able to return to the workforce. To read more about these benefits check out VOLS’ new fact sheet on Understanding the New American Rescue Plan. If you or a constituent has questions about their benefits eligibility or needs assistance with an unemployment matter, please contact our UWP hotline: (347) 521-5720 or complete our online intake form. 

  • As the VOLS Microenterprise Project reflects on the one-year anniversary of start of the pandemic reaching NYC, we recognize how drastically it has impacted the small business community. VOLS stands in solidarity with New York City small business owners, and we remain dedicated to increasing access to civil legal support through initiatives like providing critical legal information and resources, increasing direct pro bono legal assistance, and advocating for smart policies sorely needed by the small business community. Earlier this month, VOLS released a small business bankruptcy guide to help small business owners make informed decisions. On March 17th, Microenterprise Project Director Arthur Kats testified in front of the New York City Council Committee on Small Business' Preliminary Budget Oversight Hearing in support of the Commercial Lease Assistance (CLA) Program, through which VOLS provides free services to small business tenants. 

  • As the VOLS COVID-19 Frontline & Healthcare Workers Initiative looks back on this pandemic year, we are proud to have stepped up to serve the Frontline Workers who sacrificed so much in service to our City. With over 16 law firm and corporate partners and nearly 100 volunteer attorneys, we have provided life planning documents to dozens of New Yorkers on the frontlines. Our clients have included paramedics, nurses, doctors, social workers, teachers and other school staff, homeless shelter staff, and even a public health research scientist. Despite the light at the end of the tunnel, we continue to serve our frontline workers and welcome new applications for the program. Frontline and healthcare workers who want to obtain free life planning documents can fill out our intake forms on our website. 
 
  • Beginning in February, the VOLS Children's Project is now managed by Jess Penkoff, Staff Attorney for Housing Rights and Special Populations. In January, Jess and Tommy Lopez from Debevoise & Plimpton LLP gave a bilingual presentation to KIPP Academy parents regarding tenants’ rights and the current New York State eviction moratorium. Jess will engage in similar presentations to our law firm and community partners in the coming weeks. The VOLS School and Hospital-Based Children’s Project continues to serve clients during the pandemic, including at four schools, two hospital sites, and a community-based health advocacy organization. 

  • Update from the VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project: While many New Yorkers have begun to experience a gradual semblance of their pre-pandemic lives, this is not the case for the thousands of women and men incarcerated in New York’s jails and prisons. For over a year, suspension of in-person visiting continues to keep people in jail and prison isolated and separated from their families and loved ones. Most on-site rehabilitative and recreational program services also remain suspended. While some possibility that family visiting might begin within the next month at Rikers Island, there have been no official announcements about this, and no timelines for reinstatement of visitation or programming are available on the state or city level. Facing a lawsuit by legal service defense organizations for his failure to offer COVID-19 vaccinations to people in NYS jails and prisons, in early February Governor Cuomo reversed his policy. Incarcerated individuals have recently begun to receive inoculations in accordance with statewide eligibility guidelines applicable to all other New Yorkers based on age and other risk criteria. 
Join the VOLS' New York, Together Campaign
  • Read VOLS' New York, Together Impact Report as our city responds to the health, economic, and racial justice crises facing our city.