WHEREAS, The dedicated advocates at Community Legal Services (CLS) fight for Philadelphians living in poverty, including children, seniors, immigrants and people with disabilities, ensuring clients have a fair chance to be heard in their quest for justice; and
WHEREAS, For 60 years, CLS has opened its doors to low-income Philadelphians, helping more than one million residents who would have otherwise faced devastating consequences of poverty, such as eviction, foreclosure, family separation, and loss of employment; and
WHEREAS, CLS is recognized as one of the premier legal services organizations in the nation, representing more than 14,000 Philadelphians each year, preventing homelessness, reuniting families, breaking down barriers to employment and keeping our residents healthy and our City safe; and
WHEREAS, CLS led advocacy to create and implement the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Project, Right to Counsel, and the Eviction Diversion Program, which are national models for keeping tenants in their homes, preventing homelessness, and saving city resources; and
WHEREAS, CLS pioneered Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law, a first-in-the-nation automated criminal record sealing program which has sealed more than 56 million old records and given a fresh start to 1.7 million Pennsylvanians, and fought to create and expand Philadelphia’s Fair Chance Hiring Law, so that hardworking Philadelphians can access good jobs; and
WHEREAS, CLS conceived Philadelphia’s Tiered Assistance Program, another first-in-the-nation program, which ensures that low-income families can afford to pay their water bills each month and break free from water debt, a threat to generational wealth; and
WHEREAS, CLS has been on the frontier of protecting Black and Brown homeownership in the City of Philadelphia, creating the Mortgage and Property Tax Foreclosure Diversion Programs, helping more than 10,000 homeowners save their homes, expanding Philadelphia’s property tax relief programs, creating more than 1,000 wills, and unlocking tangled titles in our city; and
WHEREAS, CLS brings tens of millions of dollars into the City each year; expands access to health insurance for the uninsured; keeps low-income people in their homes with the utilities turned on; and prevents improper loss of critical benefits like Social Security, SSI, SNAP and cash assistance; and
WHEREAS, CLS has been a vital resource and a frequent partner to Philadelphia City Council, working to help our City thrive, ensure that the City is safer, make Philadelphia a better place to live, and ensure that every Philadelphian can access justice; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes, congratulates and honors the 60 years of excellent work and dedicated service Community Legal Services has given to our City and our community.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this Resolution be presented to Community Legal Services as evidence of the sincere respect and admiration of this legislative body.
End