News Archives - Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc.

Banks lobbyists want to slash funding for legal support programs

Banks lobbyists want to slash funding for legal support programs

With Florida's 2025 legislative approaching, banks have begun a campaign to cut funding for legal programs that help veterans, domestic violence victims, and families facing eviction and foreclosure. As Florida lawmakers prepare for their next legislative session, the banking industry is lobbying to cut funding for legal programs that support veterans, victims of domestic violence, and families facing eviction and foreclosure. Just days after the end of the 2024 elections, records show a group of banks hired two lobbying firms in Tallahassee to push for the cuts when Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature convenes early next year for the 2025 session.

Dennis Harrison2024-12-20T17:39:21-05:00December 20th, 2024|Fair Housing, News|

Lawyers, Judges, and Civic Leaders Rally for Jacksonville Seniors in 2024 Freed to Run Challenge

Lawyers, Judges, and Civic Leaders Rally for Jacksonville Seniors in 2024 Freed to Run Challenge

The 2024 Freed to Run Challenge November 23-24 benefiting Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Shelter for Elders initiative is drawing lawyers, judges, business leaders, and other civic-minded athletes to help fund an endowment for housing-related legal assistance for indigent seniors. The runners and walkers will complete half-mile laps around the Duval County Courthouse in a period of either 12 or 24 hours beginning November 23, or run a 5k on November 24, while the cyclists will bike from the St. Johns County Courthouse to the Duval County Courthouse November 24. All are gathering financial pledges for JALA.

Dennis Harrison2024-11-10T11:13:35-05:00November 10th, 2024|Freed To Run, News, Shelter for Elders|

Freed to Run Challenge includes 35-mile bicycle ride

Freed to Run Challenge includes 35-mile bicycle ride

In addition to the 12- and 24-hour relay walks and runs around the Duval County Courthouse, the Freed to Run Challenge fundraiser next month for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid also features a bicycle ride from St. Augustine to Jacksonville. Cyclists will begin pedaling at 8:30 a.m. Nov. 24 at the RichardO. Watson Judicial Center parking lot at 4010 Lewis Speedway in St. Augustine. The 35-mile route starts in St. Johns County, heading north on U.S. 1 and then turning onto Atlantic Boulevard and San Marco Boulevard in Duval County. The route crosses the Acosta Bridge and then follows Forsyth and Clay streets to the finish line on the lawn at the courthouse at 501 W. Adams St. Transportation back to St. Augustine for riders and their bikes is provided at about 1 p.m. The event benefits JALA’s Shelter for Elders Endowment, which supports the growing number of people over 60 seeking help with housing issues like reverse mortgage foreclosures, scams, wrongful evictions and discrimination.

Dennis Harrison2024-10-23T12:48:53-04:00October 23rd, 2024|Freed To Run, News|

United Way announces $4.4 million in grant funding

United Way announces $4.4 million in grant funding

United Way of Northeast Florida is thrilled to announce the grant recipients of its $4.4 million investment in providing basic needs and improving the financial well-being of families across Northeast Florida. Nearly three dozen programs received funding for an 18-month grant cycle to support meaningful outcomes that will improve economic mobility across our region. The grantees were selected following a request for proposals (RFP) process that launched in early July and closed in mid-August. The $4.4 million grant pool is made possible by contributions from thousands of donors, corporations and foundations who donate to United Way annually. To submit a proposal, an organization was required to be a 501(c)3 nonprofit leading programs that fall within United Way's focus areas of basic needs and/or financial well-being. Moreover, the applicants must serve residents in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and northern St. Johns counties.

Dennis Harrison2024-10-21T09:52:14-04:00October 20th, 2024|Fair Housing, News|

JALA debuting clay shoot fundraiser

JALA debuting clay shoot fundraiser

The Oct. 11 event is open to all to raise money to support civil legal aid in Northeast Florida. The inaugural Jacksonville Area Legal Aid Clay Shoot Fundraiser to Drive Justice Forward is Oct. 11 at Jacksonville Clay Target Sports, 12125 New Berlin Road. Open to all levels of experience, four-person teams may register for $1,200; individual participants are $325, including ammunition, clay targets and the post-event awards ceremony and celebration. Visit jaxclayshoot.com for more information and to register.

Dennis Harrison2024-09-23T10:54:04-04:00September 23rd, 2024|News|

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by the Jacksonville Business Journal

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid recognized as one of the Best Places to Work by the Jacksonville Business Journal

Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) has been honored as one of the Best Places to Work in 2024 by the Jacksonville Business Journal. “We appreciate the Jacksonville Business Journal for recognizing what a wonderful work environment we have at JALA,” said JALA President and CEO Jim Kowalski. “We do all we can to give our employees the tools they need to succeed and feel satisfied at work and in life, and we place a high value on collaboration, inclusion, mentoring and support.” With 81 employees, JALA is a nonprofit law firm focused on delivering economic, social, and housing justice to low-income and at-risk individuals and families on the First Coast. Many of its attorneys and staff members have won statewide and national awards for their work in the public interest.

Dennis Harrison2024-09-03T11:32:56-04:00September 3rd, 2024|News|

Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author Andrea Elliott to headline Jacksonville Area Legal Aid event honoring Pajcic & Pajcic

Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author Andrea Elliott to headline Jacksonville Area Legal Aid event honoring Pajcic & Pajcic

Robert J. Beckham Equal Justice Awards Celebration Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 Marriott Jacksonville Downtown JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 6, 2024 – Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist and author Andrea Elliott will deliver the keynote address at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s 22nd Equal Justice Awards Sept. 18 at the Marriott Jacksonville Downtown. Elliott has documented the lives of poor Americans, Muslim immigrants and other people on the margins of power. She is an investigative reporter for The New York Times and the author of Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City, which won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. Elliott also was awarded a 2007 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. She is currently a Writer in Residence at Princeton University.

Dennis Harrison2024-09-23T11:07:48-04:00August 28th, 2024|Equal Justice Awards, News, Partners in Justice Spotlight, Pro Bono|

Aylmar Thompson: Serving His Fellow Veterans With Distinction

Aylmar Thompson: Serving His Fellow Veterans With Distinction

Like his father and grandfather before him, both of whom served in World War II, Aylmar Thompson dedicated years of his life to his country, serving from 2009 to 2017 as an operations specialist Second Class for the U.S. Navy. Now a paralegal in Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s Veterans Legal Services Unit, Thompson has used his service-related insights to help the veteran-rich community of Northeast Florida since 2020. “I have an understanding of what the veterans who come into our office are dealing with, along with the culture they experienced, which allows us as a unit to really connect with the veterans and provide them with the best service we can offer,” Thompson said. Thompson decided to pursue legal studies following his military career after “observing service members around me being given bad advice, some legal, some general. I knew there was a better way. While pursuing this new field, a desire to do more lit inside me like a fire.”

Dennis Harrison2024-07-30T11:12:57-04:00July 30th, 2024|News, Veterans Services|

November’s Freed to Run Challenge Offers Everyone the Chance to Support JALA’s Shelter for Elders Initiative

November’s Freed to Run Challenge Offers Everyone the Chance to Support JALA’s Shelter for Elders Initiative

Gunster Shareholder and marathoner Mike Freed and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid – joined by several event directors from the Northeast Florida community – are gearing up for the 2024 Freed to Run Challenge, a two-day event November 23-24 to benefit JALA’s Shelter for Elders endowment funding housing-related legal assistance for indigent seniors. Individual runners, relay teams, walkers, and bikers will raise funds for the endowment through peer-to-peer fundraising based on a challenge to complete half-mile laps around the Duval County Courthouse in a period of either 12 or 24 hours. Other options are to run a 5k or to bike from the St. Johns County Courthouse to the Duval County Courthouse. Those businesses, organizations and individuals wanting to participate, donate to the endowment, or lend their in-kind support to the event can contact the appropriate director - read more at The Florida Bar.

Dennis Harrison2024-07-23T11:19:56-04:00July 23rd, 2024|Freed To Run, News, Shelter for Elders|

Making Ends Meet: Helping families avoid eviction

Making Ends Meet: Helping families avoid eviction

Last year, thousands of eviction notices were filed in Jacksonville as families struggle to make ends meet. The new program helping families avoid eviction and the other resources available to you.

Dennis Harrison2024-06-01T10:29:53-04:00June 1st, 2024|Fair Housing, News|