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2021 Report: Bounce Forward

As we reflect upon 2021, the theme of resilience is on our minds at Volunteers of Legal Service.

Even as the pandemic enters a new phase, New Yorkers are piece-by-piece assembling the tools to realize a caring, healthy, and vibrant future beyond COVID-19.

As we push through the pandemic, risks and challenges remain: the economy is still adjusting, courts face a daunting backlog, and our post-pandemic future is only just beginning to be understood. It is especially during a moment like now when VOLS and our partners must be vigilant to understand how low-income New Yorkers, immigrants, and communities of color experience the pandemic recovery, what legal obstacles they face, and how our services can meaningfully respond to those challenges ahead.

In the below 2021 report, read the stories of clients whose lives are impacted by our work, and access our Year-In-Review blog posts including annual updates from our Senior Law, Microenterprise, Immigration, and Unemployed Workers Projects.

Thank you for being part of the VOLS community. Please join us to ensure that New York City can bounce forward from the pandemic.

Thank You from our Clients

Thank you so much for your assistance in helping my mother. I appreciate you understanding the urgency of my situation. Yesterday, we met our lawyers, and now we have every legal document needed to manage her personal affairs. She was completely overwhelmed by their respectful and kind demeanor.

— Client, Senior Law Project

I am so grateful to [VOLS] for existing. I don’t have the means to go out and get a lawyer and fight with my landlord. [VOLS] was there for me and is for me, and I am appreciative of what they have provided to small businesses like myself: for women, minority, family funded businesses.

— Client, Microenterprise Project

I have no words to describe how happy and grateful I am to have people like you to guide me and help me during the renewal process. I have just received my work permit renewed, and this is thanks to you!

— Client, Immigration Project

I will be forever grateful to you. It took so long, 5 months exactly, for me to finally get through to someone who cared enough to help me receive my benefits. You are truly an extraordinary person. Thanks for caring.

— Client, Unemployed Workers Project

VOLS Clients

68%

Identify As People of Color

Live In All

5

Boroughs of New York City

63%

Identify As Women

VOLS Legal Service

CASES HAVE DOUBLED SINCE 2018

15,000

Volunteer Hours Served

1,000

Volunteers from 70 law firms, companies, & law schools

150

Community-Based Partners

VOLS' Impact

In the last year, VOLS free legal services directly benefited 6,670 low-income New Yorkers:

SENIOR LAW PROJECT, VETERANS INITIATIVE & LA EXTENSIÓN COMUNITARIA PARA ADULTOS MAYORES

services benefited 2,141 seniors, older veterans, and their loved ones,

assisting seniors to age in the community with dignity and without fear of homelessness.

MICROENTERPRISE PROJECT

services benefited 1,003 small business owners, employees, and family members,

supporting small businesses to maintain stability and pursue growth opportunities.

IMMIGRATION PROJECT

services benefited 1,381 immigrant young people and their family members,

empowering clients to know their rights, apply for eligible status upgrades, and pursue career or educational pathways.

UNEMPLOYED WORKERS PROJECT

services benefited 1,845 unemployed workers and household members,

helping New Yorkers to secure over $850,000 in eligible unemployment-related benefits.

CHILDREN’S PROJECT

services benefited 300 children and family members,

addressing housing, income, family, and immigration law concerns.

2021 Year-in-Review Blog

VOLS Thank You Note 2021

Thank you from VOLS

Testimonials from New Yorkers who benefit from the generous contributions of VOLS partners and supporters.
DONATE TO VOLS’ PANDEMIC RECOVERY LEGAL SERVICES
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