|
News Release
Texas Access to Justice Foundation Texas Access to Justice Foundation Names 2009 Equal Justice Works Fellows
AUSTIN, Texas
The
Texas Access to Justice Foundation, in partnership with
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, as part of its
commitment to ensuring access to justice for the poor,
has sponsored these innovative fellowship projects in
Host Organization:
Advocacy, Inc.,
Issue area:
Education/Special Education, Disability Rights,
Children/Youth
William and Mary School of Law, 2009
Prior to attending law school, Bellinger was a social
worker in
Host Organization:
Texas Advocacy Project,
Issue area:
Domestic Violence
The University of Texas School of Law, 2009
From an early age, Cassidy prioritized the advocacy that
all children ought to be free from instability, poverty
and violence. Getting to know - and to learn from -
survivors of domestic violence in adulthood strengthened
that initial intuition.
Cassidy’s project is tied to economic survival,
which often leads abused women with children back to
their batterers. Child support payments, credit
reparation and financial literacy represent
under-utilized tools for survivors' economic
sustainability and advancement. Her project strives to
develop the economic self-sufficiency of victims of
domestic violence with children so that they do not need
to return to their batterers for financial support.
Host Organization:
Texas Civil Rights Project,
Issue area:
Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Immigrant Populations,
Domestic Violence
Georgetown University Law Center, 2009
The Texas Civil Rights Project’s program to help
undocumented victims of domestic violence gain legal
status under the Violence Against Women Act showed just
how powerless so many women are when it comes to
protecting themselves and their families from violence,
particularly when an abuser has the advantages of
language and citizenship on his side. “I would like to
do what I can to make the odds better for these women by
making the legal system more accessible,” Frank says.
Her project will educate judges and county policy makers
about improving interpretation services and develop
litigation with victims of domestic violence in counties
that are less amenable to change.
Though
Patricia “Tricia” Freshwater
Host Organization:
Catholic Charities of
While working on an asylum case the summer after her
first year of law school, Freshwater was struck by the
vulnerability of immigrants who are detained.
She realized that even educated clients have a
difficult time navigating our complex immigration system
without the assistance of an attorney.
The goal of her fellowship project is to bring
legal services to immigrants who have been detained and
are currently in removal proceedings.
Specifically, it will involve educating
immigrants and their families regarding their rights,
providing legal representation to immigrants unable to
afford private counsel, and training and mentoring
volunteer attorneys to provide immigration
representation. The
law firm of Baker & McKenzie is co-sponsoring
Freshwater’s Fellowship.
Continuing Fellows from the 2008 Fellowship class
sponsored by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation are:
Colleen Wisdom, Advocacy, Inc., Lubbock;
Helena Coronado-Salazar,
-30-
The Texas
Access to Justice Foundation (www.teajf.org),
created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 1984, is the
primary state-based funding source for the provision of
civil legal aid in Texas. The organization is committed
to the vision that all Texans will have equal access to
justice, regardless of their income. The Foundation
administers a variety of funding sources, which are
earmarked to assist nonprofit organizations in providing
legal aid to approximately 100,000 Texans each year.
Contact: Kimberly Schmitt
|
Recent News |
