Category: Advocacy Center News

We’ve moved to a new home!

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Welcome to the Advocacy Center, the new home of Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy! 

There are over 300,000 residents in Mecklenburg County who are eligible for our services and in need of legal assistance, but unable to afford private lawyers.  With demand significantly increasing over the past several years, we increased our staff and resource to better assist our community.  Our growth was met with its own challenges, and we quickly found our impact limited by physical space. 

Our new home at 5535 Albemarle Road substantially improves our ability to provide dignified, confidential, convenient service by tripling our square footage and consolidating all our services under one roof. The services and staff our clients know and trust will remain the same, just at a new location. 

We look forward to welcoming you to our new home!

Celebrating 34 Years of Leadership & Service: Kenneth Schorr Retires

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Kenneth Schorr will retire as Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s Executive Director on April 8, 2022 after 34 years of public service. 

Ken has tirelessly served low-income people in North Carolina throughout his tenure at the Advocacy Center, as well as in leadership roles in many local, state, and national non-profit organizations. Over the years he has been an outspoken advocate for economic security for all, an intrepid supporter of employment rights for North Carolina workers, and a strong proponent of creating a welcoming community for immigrants. Driven by his vision, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has grown into a respected legal services organization equipped to meet the pressing legal needs of those across the state. 

At the core of his vision is Ken’s dedication to helping low-income and marginalized individuals.  This commitment led the Advocacy Center to establish legal assistance programs for immigrants, veterans, and marginalized communities, years before services were more widely available.  He pushed the Advocacy Center to support unpopular litigation and system advocacy that resulted in positive change for hundreds of thousands of low-income families, strengthening the organization for the future in the process.  His efforts redefined what lawyers could do to help people living in poverty.

Unrelenting dedication would not have been enough for Ken to make the ideal possible. It has taken Ken’s unique form of leadership to inspire community members—judges, lawyers, government officials and others—to assist with the vast undertaking that has been the creation and growth each of our programs. Thanks to Ken, corporate and private firm attorneys have been encouraged and supported to take on pro bono across our service areas.

Ken’s legacy will be evident for years to come thanks to our new facility on Albemarle Road.  His vision has led to the development of a space unique in the legal services community: designed with the needs of our clients in mind, in a location that is accessible, safe, and dignified. The new Advocacy Center allows us to meet the increasing needs of our neighbors and expands our impact in the community.  

Ken’s leadership and service will be missed but he leaves the Advocacy Center in a strong position to move forward with our Interim Director, Jean Pudlo.

An event to honor Ken’s leadership and legacy will be held on April 26, 2022, from 4:30-6:30pm at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, 5535 Albemarle Road.  Please RSVP.

If you would like to leave a note or tribute to Ken, please share your message in the form below:

Advocacy Center Leadership Transition

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After 34 years of service, our Executive Director, Kenneth Schorr, will retire on April 8, 2022. Ken leaves the Advocacy Center in a strong position to move forward with a new Chief Executive Officer.

While the search for our new CEO continues, the Advocacy Center Board of Directors has appointed Jean Pudlo as interim director. Jean has more than 30 years of nonprofit management experience and has served in interim roles for multiple nonprofit organizations in transition.  She will assume leadership duties on April 11, 2022. 

The Search Committee of the Advocacy Center Board of Directors, chaired by Jose Vega, Wells Fargo and Ed O’Keefe, Moore and Van Allen, has partnered with Elinvar Leadership Solutions to support the executive search and to ensure a smooth transition. Our new CEO is expected to join us in the coming months this year.

If you would like to leave a note or tribute to Ken, please share your message in the form below:

Kenneth Schorr, Executive Director, Announces Retirement

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After 34 years of service, our Executive Director, Kenneth Schorr, will retire on April 8, 2022. While leading an effective and dynamic program of individual and systemic advocacy, Ken’s concluding goals were to lead our organization through its 50th anniversary celebration and rebranding in 2017, conduct a successful capital campaign, and acquire and move to a new building. As our capital campaign approaches our goal, and our organization will move to our new office in early 2022, those goals are nearly complete.

Ken began his service as Executive Director for Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy in April 1988. During his tenure, he recruited and supported lawyers and other staff to be experts in their areas of legal practice, provided individual client assistance in employment and other areas of law, and assisted other advocates across the range of our legal practice. Throughout his career, he has worked to keep our agency focused on the clients and community we serve, expert and agile in its work, and connected and collaborated with partners and supporters.

Ken’s professional career has been committed to helping those who are disadvantaged or disfavored in our community. We have all been impacted by his dedication.

The Advocacy Center Board has appointed a Search Committee, chaired by Jose Vega, Wells Fargo and Ed O’Keefe, Moore and Van Allen. The Search Committee and the Advocacy Center Board of Directors have selected Elinvar Leadership Solutions to support the executive search and to ensure a smooth transition. Although Ken’s determination and tenacity leading our organization will be missed, he leaves the Advocacy Center in a strong position to move forward with new leadership. Through this transition, the Advocacy Center will continue to work tirelessly to fulfill our mission to pursue justice for those in need.

Racial Justice Implications of Recent Legal Decisions

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In pivotal cases in courtrooms across America, we have seen victories and movement toward a more just and equal country, while also being reminded that there is still more work to be done.  

Our legal system shows progress in the fight against racism 

On November 18th, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt granted clemency to Julius Jones hours before his scheduled execution.  Jones had spent 19 years on death row for a 1999 murder that new compelling evidence suggests he did not commit. Governor Stitt took action after years of pleading and advocacy by the public, including a petition with more than 6.5 million signatures.  Supporters argued that Jones, a Black man, was not given a fair trial and that racism played a role in his sentencing.  Research has found that a disproportionate number of death-row inmates are Black, and that Black defendants accused of killing white people are more likely to be executed.  While the governor granted clemency, Jones still faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

Days later, organizers of the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville were held liable for inciting violence against counter protesters in 2017.  The verdict was a clear admonishment of the defendants, a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Confederate sympathizers. 

And finally, on November 24th, three white men were found guilty of murdering Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, in what many viewed as a modern-day lynching.   Arbery was chased down and killed by the men while jogging through their neighborhood.  Arbery’s family and supporters across the nation found some solace in the jury of mostly white citizens affirming that killing an unarmed Black man was not only morally wrong, but legally wrong as well.  

The work is not finished 

Our nation was divided on November 19th when jurors found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty in his shooting of three men during racial justice protests in 2020.  Jurors determined that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense in accordance with Wisconsin law.  Those in opposition to the verdict argued that Rittenhouse, a young white man, benefited from a blatant racial double standard.  Many have argued that if Rittenhouse was Black, he would not have been released on bail, nor had a public trial to plead his innocence.  Activists also raised concerns that racial justice protestors could lawfully be deemed a threat by armed vigilantes.   

The underlying truth in these cases is that violence and injustice against people of color has gone on for far too long.  Our legal system has historically justified the killing of Black men and women, serving as an affront to the claims of justice for all.  Furthermore, men and women of color face implicit bias and systemic racism in our courtrooms, resulting in disproportionate negative outcomes in criminal legal proceedings.  Justice should not be based on the color of your skin. 

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy stands with the Black community 

The Advocacy Center’s vision is to build a just community where all people are treated fairly and have access to legal representation. The long-standing inequities of our criminal justice system have been laid bare, yet we know firsthand that our civil legal system is equally rife with injustices.  We must stand as a community to say that Black lives matter.  But so too does the quality of life to which they are afforded.   At the Advocacy Center, it is our mission to address the disproportionate impact of civil legal issues threatening our neighbors of color, improve our clients’ quality of life, ensure stability, and promote opportunity.  

The verdicts in the Charlottesville, Jones and Arbery trials may bring us closer to a world of justice for all, but we know it is just one step in a very long journey.  We continue to watch cases where Black defendants have made similar claims of self-defense. In Wisconsin, Chrystul Kizer, a young Black woman and a victim of abuse, faces criminal charges for murdering her sex trafficker when she was 17.  And in Georgia, Marc Wilson, a young Black man, faces criminal charges for killing a white female after firing defensive shots at her vehicle.  The young woman and co-passengers of her vehicle had targeted Wilson with racial epithets, threw glass bottles at his vehicle, and attempted to run Wilson off the road.  It is our hope that the outcome of these cases will demonstrate that Black defendants can and must receive the same deference and protection afforded by a self-defense argument as white defendants. For now, the fight continues and we remain hopeful that one day justice for all will not only be said, but shown.  

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Launches Medicaid Storytelling

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Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy is partnering with the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) for a Medicaid storytelling project to learn how Medicaid has impacted North Carolinians. We encourage anyone to share their experience with Medicaid, whether it is good or bad, and how having or not having Medicaid has made a difference.

Those interested in participating can email Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, call us at 980-202-7334 or record a video.

The stories we collect will be used to help identify problems and successes that can be used for advocacy to improve Medicaid. Your participation can secure health access and equity for all people and communities.

To learn more in about this project in English, click here. Para aprender más sobre como compartir su historia, haga clic aquí.

Charlotte Center For Legal Advocacy Hosts U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra

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Charlotte, NC – Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and U.S. Rep. Alma Adams visited Charlotte Center For Legal Advocacy and Legal Aid of North Carolina. They conducted a roundtable discussion on local and national health care with representatives of NC Navigator Consortium and other leading figures in the Charlotte community.

The director of NC Navigator Consortium, Mark Van Arnam, answering one of Secretary Becerra’s questions. 

Secretary Becerra and Rep. Adams thanked Charlotte Center For Legal Advocacy and the representatives of NC Navigator Consortium for the results they have achieved getting those in need connected to COVID-19 vaccinations and affordable health care coverage. Secretary Becerra mentioned that President Biden’s new American Families Plan is an important building block of the Affordable Care Act. Secretary Becerra and Rep. Adams made it clear their top priority is increasing vaccination rates and promised to meet the people where they are in order to make it happen.

Secretary Becerra and U.S. Rep Alma Adams taking a tour of Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy with health insurance navigator Natalie Marles.
Secretary Becerra and U.S. Rep Alma Adams discussing the importance of increasing vaccination rates with the media. 

Anyone in need of health insurance coverage is encouraged to learn more about how to “get covered” on the Charlotte Center For Legal Advocacy website. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Biden administration has announced a Special Open Enrollment Period that will remain open until August 15, 2021. First-time consumers or individuals who have lost their health coverage can enroll in a plan during this time, and existing consumers can switch plans. NC Navigator Consortium Health Insurance Navigators are standing by to help.

Charlotte Center For Legal Advocacy can provide those in need with information, advice and advocacy in consumer protection, home preservation, health care access and public benefits, immigration, tax assistance and more. Our mission is to pursue justice for those in need. Our vision is to build a just community, where all people are treated fairly and have access to legal representation to meet their basic human needs of safety, economic security and stability.

Recognizing Juneteenth is A Start

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This week Congress overwhelmingly approved a measure that President Biden signed into law to designate Juneteenth as a federal holiday—a long overdue recognition of a critical moment in our nation’s history. 

On June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, the last group of enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free two years after the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery had been issued.  

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth to commemorate the end of slavery and persevere as we continue on the long journey toward freedom.  

Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy has chosen to observe the holiday each year by closing its offices. We will be closed on Friday, June 18, this year. We do so to give our staff time for celebration, education and connection.

We applaud Congress for this recognition, but we also demand that lawmakers prioritize racial equity with the same level of support when it comes to economic mobility, education, health care, housing, policing and voting rights. 

James Baldwin famously said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” 

Recognizing Juneteenth is a small step toward racial reconciliation for our country, but we cannot begin to eradicate the racist systems that rule our society without addressing our shameful past head on.

Juneteenth is that starting point. It encourages dialogue around the deferred dream of freedom that has always existed for Black people in the United States and what our nation truly values.  

Black people were not included when the phrase “justice for all” was originally championed in the vision laid out for our country. Since then, systems of power have intentionally kept Black Americans from being included.  

On Juneteenth we imagine what our country could be if we prioritized racial justice and equity to build a truly inclusive democracy that realizes the ideals our country was founded upon. 

Equal justice for all is impossible to realize without this hard, necessary work.

At Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy, we fight for equal justice under the law every day for our clients, a majority of whom are people of color disproportionately impacted by poverty.  

We commit to actively dismantling these systems through our work. 

We are striving to build a more just community. And doing so requires taking a hard look at our practices and making sure that everything we do lives up to our standard of justice—one that truly ensures equity and opportunity for all. 

Thank you for supporting us in these efforts.  

Happy Juneteenth from Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy. 

Celebrate Juneteenth with us: 

Educate yourself: Spend the day learning about Juneteenth’s history, including how Black families felt after being emancipated. Watch the documentary 13th on Netflix, or engage with other movies, shows, books and podcasts about systemic racism. Check out this Anti-Racist reading list from Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s staff.  

Participate in local and virtual Juneteenth events:  Find an event near you with this local guide from Axios Charlotte

Juneteenth Programing at the Harvey B. Gantt Center 

Virtual Programing from the National Museum of African American History 

Reflect: While slavery ended in 1865, the racist system it built persists today. Use June 19 as a day to reflect on critical issues that perpetuate discrimination against Black people in America and throughout the world. 

Place a sign in your front yard: Raise awareness and show your support for Juneteenth by decorating a sign for your front yard or door. This is a great way to help educate younger kids in your neighborhood who may not know about the holiday. 

Celebrate with a cookout: Gather your friends and family together (safely) to celebrate freedom. 

Keep the spirit of this special day alive by continuing to fight for justice for ALL! 

NCBA Honors Robinson Bradshaw, Access to Justice Pro Bono Partner, with State-wide Award

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Three huge projects. One unprecedented year. Despite the challenges and legal boom of 2020, Robinson Bradshaw took charge in their pro bono initiatives. For their unyielding commitment to pro bono service demonstrated by their undertaking of several complex and impactful projects during 2020, the North Carolina Bar Association granted Robinson Bradshaw  the Law Firm Pro Bono Award with Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy’s nomination.  

In the first project, Robinson Bradshaw successfully litigated against the Lake Arbor Apartments with Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and the North Carolina Justice Center. Led by Julian Wright, the firm was instrumental in securing over $547,000 in settlement funds for tenants who were forced to pay rent for sub-standard housing. Wright says: “Where you live is important. For a lot of people, it’s the base of their life, it’s the place from where they go out into the world and do things they want to do, it’s where families are raised.”  

Overall, Julian Wright, Caroline Reinwald, Tami Redi, Adam Wehler, Adam Doerr, Andy Tarr, David Wright, Erik Zimmerman, Satyra Riggins and Jake Raynor donated 510 hours of legal services to the Lake Arbor case. Because of these advocates’ tireless commitment, class members were reimbursed for rent paid and compensated for the violation of their rights as tenants. Furthermore, Robinson Bradshaw set a strong precedent of preserving safe and affordable housing in the Charlotte area—a key issue in the region.   

Robinson Bradshaw’s second project creatively bolstered pro bono resources to represent The Advocacy Center in a real estate transaction to acquire our new building. The effort was led by Robinson Bradshaw’s Jane Ratteree, who focuses her pro bono initiatives on “helping organizations that in turn help individuals.” It is important for The Advocacy Center “to have a more dignified space. To show the clients that they are valued as clients, that they are coming to a place that’s going to treat them well and do a good job for them,” Ratteree says. Ratteree’s service will make a monumental impact on Charlotte’s legal services community, ensuring that The Advocacy Center’s staff have a modern office space for our expanding programs. Ratteree contributed nearly 250 hours to this effort. 

In the third project, Robinson Bradshaw, led by attorney Adam Doerr, successfully litigated on behalf of low-income families against the State of North Carolina to ensure eligible low-income families with children would receive $335 dollars in COVID-19 relief. Almost 25,000 low-income residents applied to receive the grant after a court ordered the State to re-open the deadline for low-income families to apply, resulting in over $5 million for those most in need. 

 “When we realized that many of the families most in need would miss out on these critical pandemic relief funds, we knew that the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy would have the expertise and resources to help us manage the kind of impact litigation and outreach campaign needed to ensure that these state grants actually got to the low-income families in our community,” said Doerr. 

He and the Robinson Bradshaw team were attentive, swift and impressive. However, Doerr’s commitment to the successful execution of the project  demonstrates his and the firm’s innovative approach to wholistic pro bono service. Doerr and team recognized that their litigative efforts were only part of the picture and did not rest until as many eligible families received the grant as possible, including negotiating contracts with a web development company and national call center provider to handle a statewide outreach effort. Overall, Robinson Bradshaw donated 581 hours to this effort. 

In addition to these impactful projects, Robinson Bradshaw as a firm has donated 1,293 hours of legal services to low-income clients through the Access to Justice Pro Bono Partners Program over the years. Robinson Bradshaw routinely has several attorneys inducted to the Access to Justice Pro Bono Partners Honor Roll (requires either 20 hours of service or closure of three cases in the previous year) and the NC Pro Bono Honor Society (requires at least 50 hours of service in the previous year). Robinson Bradshaw attorneys undertake pro bono cases in areas such as wills, consumer protection, access to healthcare, immigration and others.  

Julian Wright, Jane Ratteree, Adam Doerr and Robinson Bradshaw’s commitment to serving low-income families in North Carolina through these complex projects demonstrates the firm’s innovative and comprehensive approach to pro bono service. They go beyond individual case referrals to ensure the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community has equal access to justice and civil legal aid. We applaud their creative leadership of non-traditional pro bono initiatives and hope that Robinson Bradshaw’s efforts inspire other firms in the area. Congratulations!  

Justice Would Bring Them Home

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Friends,

For the past month, many have followed the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd last May. We thank the prosecution and courageous witnesses who took the stand and recounted this traumatic event in the pursuit of justice and accountability for Floyd’s family. Yesterday, the jury unanimously convicted Chauvin on all charges—of second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter. 

This has been a pivotal year for the Black Lives Matter movement. We extend our gratitude to the organizers of protests, community discussions, and mutual aid efforts this year and beyond. Without your dedicated and persistent work, we would not have witnessed yesterday’s affirmation that Black lives do matter. You have our ongoing support and appreciation.  

The conviction of a single police officer cannot be the close to the protests of the past year and advocacy for and by marginalized communities of the last four hundred years. As Daunte Wright’s mother, Katie Wright proclaimed, “Everybody keeps saying ‘justice.’ But unfortunately, there is never going to be justice for us. Justice would bring our son home.” 

Many families of victims of police brutality and racialized violence still have not received this justice. Police and white supremacists have also unjustly killed Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner, Eric Reason, Atatiana Jefferson, Antwon Rose II, Botham Jean, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Emmett Till, Addie Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, Ma’Khia Bryant and thousands of others. 

We must reimagine what justice means for American society. Standalone convictions do not reduce the need for comprehensive policy change and genuine justice. 

True justice ensures no parent, child, sibling, or friend will fear police will target their loved ones. True justice guarantees everyone has an equal opportunity for success and happiness in this country. We will continue towards the pursuit of this true justice, following those who have come before, partnering with the community on the ground, and calling in all who wish to walk with us.  

In solidarity, 

The staff at Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy