NEWS & MEDIA CENTER
Staff Openings
The Legal Aid Justice Center is currently seeking candidates for the following positions:
Bilingual Attorney - Public Interest (Falls Church office)
Bilingual Day Labor Site Manager/Community Organizer (Falls Church office)
DRIVER'S LICENSE RESTORATION CLINIC, April 29 - May 3
The Legal Aid Justice Center will offer free legal help to low-income clients who are having trouble navigating the driver’s license reinstatement process. We will help identify barriers to license restoration and provide advice.
Financial eligibility screening and residence in Charlottesville or the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, or Nelson is required.
To schedule an appointment, contact:
Carolyn Kalantari
The Legal Aid Justice Center
1000 Preston Avenue, Ste. A
Charlottesville, VA 22903
(434) 977-0553 ext. 113
BankOn Launches April 15th
Join the Legal Aid Justice Center and our community partners on April 15 for BankOn’s public launch!
April 15, 9:00 AM at City Space, 100 5th St NE
BankOn: “Financial Empowerment Tools for the Unbanked and Underbanked”
Learn about using the BankOn program to help promote Financial Empowerment in the Greater Charlottesville community.
Read more here.
Annual Senior Care Conference
Nationally recognized dementia expert Teepa Snow will be the featured speaker at this year's Senior Care Conference.
The Legal Aid Justice Center, in conjunction with co-sponsors the Virginia Medical Directors Association, the Alzheimer’s Association – Central & Western Virginia Chapter, and the Community Partnership for Improved Long-Term Care, will be holding "Caring for Our Elders," the Sixth Annual Community Senior Care Conference on April 16-17, 2013. The two-day conference will take place at the University Holiday Inn in Charlottesville, Va.
Participants will:
- Learn more about caring for persons with dementia;
- Encourage communication, the exchange of information and adoption of best practices among all those involved in senior care; and
- Recognize the challenges and celebrate the accomplishments of direct care workers in long-term care and caregivers from all settings.
RESOURCES:
Color flyer
Black and white flyer
Registration form
Conference website
Community Mourns Passing of Dr. James Roche
We are all saddened at the recent passing of Jim Roche, a staunch advocate for elder care and valued member of the community. Jim's leadership and support were instrumental in launching the Community Partnership for Improved Long-Term Care. More about Jim's life and his many contributions to the community can be found in the Daily Progress. Read more.
Guestworkers Win $11 Million Judgment
The Legal Aid Justice Center and the Southern Poverty Law Center have won a judgment for more than $11 million against Eller & Sons Trees, Inc., and company owner Jerry Eller on behalf of more than 4,000 guestworkers. This decision resolves the latest case in a long-running campaign by foreign guestworkers who say they were cheated out of the wages they earned planting trees for the forestry industry. This judgment follows a 2010 settlement of similar claims by another group of guestworkers against Arkansas-based Superior Forestry Services, Inc., for $2.75 million. In both cases, foreign guestworkers on H-2B visas toiled throughout the southeastern United States planting pine seedlings.
Full press release.
Current Legal Aid Justice Center attorneys Erin Trodden, Tim Freilich, and Alex Gulotta worked on the case, along with former Legal Aid Justice Center attorneys Jim Knoepp, Mary Bauer, and Andrew Turner, as well as private attorney Brian Spears of Atlanta, Georgia.
The Southern Poverty Law Center previously published a report, Close to Slavery, about "systematically exploited and abused" guestworkers under the H-2 program.
Protecting Our Seniors - John Grisham to MC Fall Film Event October 17 at Paramount Theater
The Legal Aid Justice Center’s annual fall event will be Wednesday, October 17, 2012. This year, in conjunction with master of ceremonies John Grisham, we will present Protecting our Seniors: Defending against Elder Exploitation at Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater.
The public portion of the evening’s program includes the powerful documentary Last Will and Embezzlement, which exposes the ever-increasing problem of financial exploitation of the elderly. Last Will and Embezzlement will lay the groundwork for a panel discussion, featuring our own Claire Curry, examining the current challenges faced by low-income elderly, how the Legal Aid Justice Center works to protect our seniors, and ways in which concerned community members can be involved. Before the public program, there will be a private reception upstairs at the Paramount Theater to benefit the Legal Aid Justice Center.
You may purchase purchase your tickets online tickets online through a secure credit card transaction via Visa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express.
Please click here for more event details and sponsorship opportunities.
For more information regarding the public event or the private reception, please contact Susan Kruse at 434-977-0553 x101 or susan@justice4all.org.
About the Film – Last Will and Embezzlement
Last Will and Embezzlement, a documentary about the financial exploitation of the elderly, features disturbing, first-hand accounts from real-life victims, including Hollywood icon Mickey Rooney. The film also includes in-depth interviews with experts who discuss such key issues as victim profiles, the perpetrators’ modus operandi, reasons for vulnerability, and potential solutions to this ever-increasing, worldwide problem.
On The Road to Equality – How Far Have We Come?
On September 13, 2012, the Legal Aid Justice Center and the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society will hold a special event in Richmond, Va., at the newly renovated Hippodrome Theater.
On the Road to Equality – How Far Have We Come? will feature three panelists:
- Ed Ayers – president of the University of Richmond
- Nikki Giovanni – poet and professor at Virginia Tech
- Anne Holton – activist, former legal aid attorney and former first lady of Virginia
In addition to the distinguished panel, the evening will feature a screening of the Oscar-winning documentary, Mighty Times: The Children's March.
Please contact us to find out how you can join our top supporters and sponsors of legal aid in Central Virginia for this special evening.
Public Housing Residents Settle Claim for Excess Utilities Charges
Petersburg, Va., August 21, 2012 – Public housing tenants in Petersburg announced a settlement of their claims that the Petersburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority (PRHA) failed to provide adequate utility allowances, as federal law requires. This failure meant PRHA overcharged low-income Petersburg residents over the course of several years. The total of the settlement is in excess of $225,000. The Legal Aid Justice Center is representing tenants and former tenants in resolving the claims.
Deferred Action Fact Sheets
Deferred Action Fact Sheets - We have created fact sheets in both English and Spanish with details on the new deferred action program, which temporarily protects people who came to the U.S. as children from deportation and allows them to apply for a work permit.
Deferred Action Info - English
Power point presentation: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – What You Need To Know - English
Información Sobre la Acción Difereda - Español