What we do

Community Empowerment

The Community Empowerment Project of Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy promotes focused economic development, stable housing, and entrepreneurship in targeted communities.

As many organizations in the Charlotte area work to redevelop the community, there is a substantial need for legal services to support these efforts to ensure that development happens in ways that allow all community members the chance to participate in the process.

Our efforts include community education on various legal issues, opportunities for legal advice and individual representation, as well as connecting community members with crucial resources.  By working in tandem with local organizations and utilizing community-based solutions to address our clients’ pressing civil legal issues, we can empower those already actively engaged in the community and contribute to sustained change.

Case Work

  • Criminal record expunction
  • Driver’s license restoration
  • Property tax relief
  • Community-based civil legal services:
    • Consumer protection
    • Healthcare & public benefit access
    • Home preservation
    • Immigration
    • Tax-related issues

Through the Community Empowerment Project, Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy works in partnership with:

  • The City of Charlotte Neighborhood & Business Services Department to provide legal assistance to eligible low-income homeowners and tenants on targeted rehabilitation projects in low-income neighborhoods. When homeowners or tenants in a targeted neighborhood are identified as eligible for city housing repair assistance, they are referred to Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy for a legal consultation.
  • DreamKey Partners, formerly known as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing Partnership, to provide legal assistance to eligible low-income clients in the communities they are redeveloping to assist homeowners, tenants and homeless individuals who are trying to purchase or rent, or remain in their housing.
  • Habitat for Humanity Charlotte Chapter to provide legal assistance to eligible low-income prospective homeowners in the communities it is redeveloping.
  • Established Community Development Corporations (CDC) to provide requested legal assistance to eligible low-income clients of the CDC communities, including the Lakewood Neighborhood Association, working in one neighborhood with 270 homes, the Friendship CDC affiliated with Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in the Beatties Ford neighborhood, the Belmont CDC in Belmont neighborhood, and the Crossroads CDC in the Grier Heights neighborhood. These efforts are consistent with the redevelopment goals of each CDC’s residents to help grow and enhance neighborhoods.

In addition to these partnerships, the Community Empowerment Project:

  • Collaborates with grassroots community organizations and CDCs to provide limited legal assistance to participants in community economic development entrepreneurship projects
  • Provides specialized legal assistance to CDC and community organizations to ensure their legal needs pertaining to neighborhood revitalization are met

During 2023, the Community Empowerment Project:

  • Offered legal advice and extended representation to 79 clients to expunge criminal records, helped 16 clients with legal advice and representation regarding driver’s license restoration, and 89 clients through outreach and education programs