16 Council Members Fund City Counseling Program to Provide Free Legal Assistance and Community Education Across NYC
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NEW YORK, NY – The Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN) at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law announces an expansion of its support from New York City Council Members, with 16 Council Members allocating $330,250 for FY25 to fund its City Counseling Program. The program partners with City Council Districts and local community organizations to address the unmet legal needs of New Yorkers, providing essential legal assistance in areas such as immigration, housing, benefits, family law, and consumer debt.
New Council Members Join CLRN Funders
Two new Council Members have joined the program’s roster of funders this year, showing their commitment to expanding access to legal assistance in their districts. Council Member Oswald Feliz, a CUNY Law graduate from the Class of 2017 representing District 15, has appropriated $35,000, while Council Member Tiffany Cabán, representing District 22, has allocated $10,000 to support the program’s efforts in her district.
“As a proud alumni of CUNY School of Law, I am excited to be providing this valuable service of essential legal information to my constituents. Giving people increased access to legal resources and justice is a major part of the mission of the Law School and what people in District 15 and throughout the city deserve,” said Council Member Feliz ’17.
Council Member Cabán said, “We are so pleased to be able to provide this valuable legal resource to our constituents in District 22 and look forward to working with CUNY School of Law, the #1 Public Interest Law School in the country that’s located right here in Queens!”
Immigrant Opportunities Initiatives (IOI) Funding Strengthens Support for Immigrant Communities
In addition to funding from individual City Council members, CLRN’s City Counseling Program has also received continued support of its work with immigrants and their communities, which builds upon the Law School’s national reputation as a leader in immigration advocacy.
Immigrant Opportunities Initiatives (IOI) funding enables partnerships with established and trusted community organizations such as APNA Brooklyn Community Center, the Center for the Integration and Advancement of New Americans, Voces Latinas, and Woodside on the Move, where CUNY Law alumni provide legal assistance to non-citizens in a variety of languages. At Life of Hope, one such community partner, people are provided with much-needed weekly immigration counseling. This support helps address the primary goals of the IOI program, which include providing legal assistance to low-income immigrants, strengthening immigrant families and communities, addressing poverty and inequality through facilitating immigrant access to justice, supporting immigrant workers’ rights, and building partnerships between community immigrant service providers and legal services agencies.
“CUNY School of Law is proud to be at the forefront of public interest law, and our alumni are the backbone of this commitment,” said Sudha Setty, Dean of CUNY School of Law. “Through CLRN and the support of our partners, our graduates are making a tangible difference in the lives of countless New Yorkers, ensuring that access to justice is not limited by one’s socioeconomic status or immigration status. We are grateful for the continued support and recognition of the critical role that CUNY Law plays in advocating for New Yorkers.”
The full list of Councilmembers funding this important program includes Speaker Adrienne Adams (CD28), Councilmember Tiffany Cabán (CD22), Councilmember Crystal Hudson (CD35), Councilmember Shekar Krishnan (CD25), Councilmember Linda Lee (CD23), Councilmember Farah Louis (CD45), Councilmember Julie Menin (CD5), Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse (CD46), Councilmember Chi Ossé (CD36), Councilmember Oswald Feliz (CD15), Councilmember Kevin Riley (CD12), Councilmember Rita Joseph (CD40), Councilmember Pierina Sanchez (CD14), Councilmember Althea Stevens (CD16), Councilmember Sandra Ung (CD20), and Councilmember Julie Won (CD26).
The City University of New York School of Law is the nation’s leading public interest law school and ranked highest in diversity of students and faculty. CUNY Law has a dual mission: to recruit and train outstanding public interest lawyers and to diversify the legal profession so that it includes and reflects people and communities needed to transform justice.
CUNY Law’s Community Legal Resource Network (CLRN) connects alumni attorneys with City Council Districts and community organizations to provide essential legal assistance to underserved New Yorkers throughout the city’s five boroughs, filling the justice gap in areas such as immigration, housing, family law, and consumer debt.
For more information about CLRN’s City Counseling Program, please visit law.cuny.edu/alumni/programs-initiatives/city-counseling/