VOLS Monthly Newsletter

Summer Starts with Pro Bono: June News

VOLS started our summer of pro bono with legal clinics, presentations, and collaborations with our pro bono and community partners. It is particularly fun in the summer to meet and work with our pro bono partners’ summer associates, and we look forward to working with them more regularly in future years.

To kick off June, VOLS Benefits Law Project held a rent freeze presentation and legal clinic at SAGE Harlem. Our long-time partnership with SAGE takes on even greater meaning during Pride, as VOLS stands in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community in the ongoing pursuit of equality and justice. 

VOLS closed on Juneteenth to honor and celebrate the legacies of those who fought for freedom and civil rights. This month we also reflected on National Immigrant Heritage Month, and the significant contributions immigrants make to our communities every day. We are proud to empower immigrant young people and their families by providing immigration legal services that support their security, education and employment opportunities, including the legal clinics in this newsletter.  

We hope you’ll join us in supporting the summer of pro bono here at VOLS – learn more about our programs and join us in making an impact. 

Best,

Stephanie Taylor | She/Her
Pro Bono Director
Director, Incarcerated Mothers Law Project


VOLS PBAC Summer Soirée

We had a memorable evening full of fun and friendly competition at the VOLS Pro Bono Advocates Council (PBAC) Summer Soirée! Our pro bono partners turned out to compete in a professionally run scavenger hunt at the Oculus: solving clues, competing in photo challenges, and working as a team. We closed out the evening with a meaningful conversation about closing the access to justice gap and a toast to the winning team. We are grateful to the VOLS PBAC members and to our generous sponsors Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Davis Polk &Wardwell, Faegre Drinker, Freshfields, Fried Frank, Latham & Watkins, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom for supporting this event. 



Welcome Summer Interns!

VOLS is thrilled to welcome our 2026 summer interns Peyton L. Carroll, Georgetown University Law Center; Sammantha Garcia, Columbia Law School; Kira Giordano, Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University; Neo Nguyen, Fordham University School of Law; Jennifer Perez, Yale Law School; and Ashley Yu, Brooklyn Law School.



Get To Know Our Team

As part of the VOLS Spotlight Series, we spoke with Jonathan Valenzuela Mejia, Legal Assistant for the VOLS Benefits and Senior Law Projects. 

What does your role as the Legal Assistant for the Benefits and Senior Law Projects involve?
As the Legal Assistant for both the Benefits and Senior Law Projects, I help manage all aspects of our work, from the hotlines to intake to checking in with clients and closing out cases. Oftentimes, I’m running around the office to interpret during a call, open new cases for a client or ask a quick question to my colleagues. I’m also out and about throughout the city for our clinics. I’ve been to Coney Island, Williamsburg, Harlem, Chelsea and many other neighborhoods for our SCRIE Clinics. I’ve also had the opportunity to collaborate with our pro bono partners in their offices for our execution or drafting clinics for the Senior Law Project.

Is there an experience and/or client that you found particularly memorable? 
Being in two projects, I talk to a lot of clients, but for me what’s most memorable or impactful is when I can speak to clients in their native language. The sense of relief I hear over the phone when a client realizes I speak Spanish (also my native language) always makes me feel more energized about the work we do. I have not had the chance to use my French skills yet but hopefully soon! This also helps with increasing our reach to more New Yorkers across the five boroughs.most memorable aspect of my role has been seeing the impact behind the numbers and how the data highlights the critical work we are doing. I’m consistently impressed by the complex challenges our legal team and pro bono volunteers navigate. 

Tell us about yourself. What does your ideal weekend in NYC look like? 
I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and went to undergrad in Los Angeles, so I’m rather new to living in the East Coast. I moved a little less than two years ago and although the winters and summers are harsher than what I’m used to, it’s been an incredible time. An ideal weekend for me would start with a spin class. I’ve recently gotten into it, and it’s been a fun activity for me to get some exercise in. Afterwards, I’d probably take the NYC Ferry! I always take my friends who are visiting from out of town on it. The breeze of the East River and the unbeatable views of the city are a steal for the price of a ticket. One of the best things about New York City is that you can find any kind of cuisine in the world, and I’ve enjoyed trying much of the world’s flavors. Most of all, one of my favorite things to do during a lovely summer evening is to bring a picnic blanket and go to Central Park with a nice book in hand.



June Project Highlights

VOLS Benefits Law Project (BLP) held rent freeze presentations and clinics at St. Nick’s Alliance supported by pro bono attorneys from Paul, Weiss, at SAGE Harlem supported by pro bono attorneys from Gibson Dunn and Kirkland & Ellis and at the United Cultural Association with pro bono volunteers from Freshfields.

VOLS BLP holds a rent freeze legal clinic at SAGE Harlem.

VOLS Immigration Project (IP) held screening clinics for immigrant young people supported by pro bono attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine and WilmerHale and a DACA renewal clinic with pro bono partner Simpson Thacher. IP continued to hold weekly virtual briefings on changing immigration law and policy for our pro bono volunteers.  

VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project (IMLP) held a legal clinic at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility supported by pro bono attorneys from DLA Piper, Fried Frank, NBC Sports, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, and a clinic at Taconic Correctional Facility alongside pro bono attorneys from Davis Polk, Faegre Drinker, Freshfields, Kirkland & Ellis, and Morgan Stanley. IMLP also created a Family Court Petition Guide for partnering pro bono attorneys. 

VOLS Microenterprise Project (MEP) held a Preparing for Financing legal clinic with pro bono partners Davis Polk & Wardwell and JPMorgan Chase. 

VOLS Senior Law Project (SLP) held legal education presentations with community partners at Harlem Advocates for Seniors, Homecrest Multi-Social Services Center, Garden of Hope, New Lane Older Adult Center, and VISIONS. The team was also on site at the Manhattan District Attorney’s 3rd Annual Elder Abuse Awareness Fair to provide information and resources to older adult New Yorkers. 

VOLS SLP conducts a presentation in Mandarin at Garden of Hope.
VOLS SLP at the Manhattan District Attorney’s 3rd Annual Elder Abuse Awareness Fair.



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