NYCT AR2009_final.pdf - The New York Community Trust

10
When she got a notice from the Supreme
Court in 2008 notifying her of her right to
a settlement conference—which had just
become State law—she almost dismissed it
as junk mail. Luckily, she showed it to a
Coping with stress:
José Javier Bosque, who
runs the Southside
Community Mission, gets
help from the Mental
Health Association for his
clients, staff—and
himself.
colleague who urged her to call one of the
agencies listed on the notice. The first place
she called was Legal Services NYC, whose
talented attorneys, paralegals, and social
and clerical workers have helped lowincome
New Yorkers navigate the civil legal
system for more than 40 years. With a $1.2
million grant, it and its partner, the Legal
Aid Society, created the Economic Crisis
Legal Assistance Project and took on 950
additional cases. The project also trained all
of our other safety-net grantees on legal
issues related to the recession, including
transitional benefits, unemployment
insurance, and consumer debt.
Joseph Sant, a native of Seattle, was a
newly minted lawyer from Georgetown
University Law Center and Agnes became
one of his first clients at Legal Services
NYC’s Staten Island office. “I was pretty
green,” he says dryly, “but this work is
why I became a lawyer.”
“He was there for me all the time,” says
Agnes. It took almost a year, but the
case was settled. The principal was
reduced significantly, and her interest
rate cut to 4.7 percent, fixed for the life
of the loan. Joseph notes that mortgage
brokers get big commissions for putting
people in higher priced loans—and that
they’re still at it.
Making Kids
(and Parents) Happy
Old institutions, new customers,
same solutions
Miguel Pedraza-Cumba’s pleasure is
evident as he takes visitors around the
Hudson Guild, a settlement house in
Chelsea that opened in 1895 where he is
deputy executive director. The Guild is a
member of United Neighborhood Houses
(UNH), which used a $1.3 million Trust
grant to help its 37 members keep vital
programs running. Nancy Wackstein,
UNH president, says that settlement
houses are “responding with intense focus
to the needs of children, families, and
older adults whose lives have become
more difficult.”