Non-profits in the Lansing area now have better access to free legal services, thanks to a new
Community Legal Resources (CLR) office, which recently opened in
Old Town.
Detroit-based CLR is all about helping non-profits serve their constituent populations.
Since the group’s creation back in 1998, their office in Detroit has been assisting with the legal needs of non-profit organizations. While its reach has always been statewide, in recent years the need to have a physical presence outside of Southeast Michigan in order to properly serve the rest of the state had become increasingly strong.
“Lansing was chosen because of its central location,” says CLR's manager of statewide programs, Justin Sheehan, 28, of Lansing. “We want to have access to the whole state. Also, being at the State Capital brings us closer to so many of our partner organizations, like the
State Bar Foundation.
While the list of CLR’s legal and non-profit-related partners in Lansing goes on and on, the Michigan State Bar Association is of particular importance; it was their $100,000 grant that allowed CLR's Lansing location to come to fruition.
With the Old Town office up an running as of early November 2010, CLR services—namely, matching non-profits in need of legal services with the best volunteer attorney for the job—have immediately spiked in the area.
“We’ve already seen an increase in non-profits contacting us, and we’ve also seen a ramp-up in attorneys interested in volunteering,” said Sheehan.
The Lansing office of CLR is located in at 150 square foot office at 107 East Grand River.
Source: Justin Sheehan, Community Legal Resources
Writer: Natalie Burg, Interim News Editor
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