We set up mobile legal aid offices in soup kitchens and shelters across the city, and brought volunteer lawyers directly to low-income, homeless New Yorkers. We provide local legal assistance and advocacy in civil cases such as family, housing and labor law. We inform and educate low-income and homeless New Yorkers about their rights and duties, such as the rights of the homeless in public places and the rights of the police. We develop seminars in response to requests from our nonprofit partners after they have identified the legal challenges their clients typically face. Legal Services NYC fights poverty and fights for racial, social and economic justice for low-income New Yorkers. Our neighborhood offices and proximity locations help more than 100,000 New Yorkers each year. Our services are free of charge. LSNYC will never charge its clients legal representation fees. CONTACT If you need help with a new legal issue, please call our access line at 917-661-4500 Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For Brooklyn Legal Services, contact (718) 237-5500 For Bronx Legal Services, contact (718) 928-3700 For Manhattan Legal Services, contact (646) 442-3100 For Queens Legal Services, contact (347) 592-2200 For Staten Island Legal Services, contact (718) 233-6480 On one of the world`s wealthiest islands, 85% of Manhattan Legal Services (MLS) clients live on less than $15,000 a year.

We fight poverty and fight for economic, social and racial justice for low-income county residents by providing free legal representation, systemic advocacy, and community building. Each year, MLS attorneys represent and advise thousands of low-income Manhattan residents facing crises and basic needs, such as: Stephanie Millan is the paralegal at Open Hands Legal Services. She joined Open Hands Legal Services as a volunteer. We focus in particular on vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV or disabilities, the elderly, families with children, survivors of domestic violence, immigrants and the unemployed. We empower our clients by providing holistic, culturally competent and linguistically appropriate legal services that meet clients` diverse legal needs (e.g., housing and public support, or applying for a protection order during the custody application). Our lawyers strive to make a lasting difference in the lives of the low-income clients they serve by working with residents and providers in the community to identify problems and find solutions to the various problems affecting their communities. MLS has a long and successful history of working with community organizations in low-income communities in Manhattan, including Chinatown, the Lower East Side, Harlem, Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem and Washington Heights/Inwood. Address systemic issues such as the treatment of people with mental illness through the social assistance system, gentrification and loss of affordable housing, language access for LEP clients, and illegal collection. We are proud to trace our long history back to Harlem Assertion of Rights (later Harlem Legal Services) and MFY Legal Services, two poverty alleviation efforts in the 1960s, and strive to continue that legacy.

Stephanie attended LaGuardia Community College majoring in Criminal Justice. Stephanie has worked at a family law firm and has assisted clients with custody and support matters. Matt Mahoney is the Managing Director of Open Hands Legal Services. M. Mahoney has more than 27 years of experience serving the poor and marginalized in New York City, first as a teacher in New York City schools and then as an educator and leader in the nonprofit sector. Lord. Mahoney is a graduate of Columbia Business School of Non-Profit Leadership, LEADNYC`s Leadership Fellows program, and has completed other certificate programs such as NY Presbyterian Community Fellows and HFNY`s Learning Labs. In 2009, Matt served on a planning committee for the Inwood Academy for Leadership Charter School, and then joined the Board of Directors and most recently the Board of Directors of the Friends of Inwood Academy.

In 2012, Matt was part of a local collaboration that developed the Pathways mentorship program, which is now part of Viva Uptown, a non-profit organization on which he sits on the Board of Directors. Matt is originally from New England and lives in Washington Heights with his wife Tatiana and their three children. Her passion is to help those in need, especially immigrants. Since 2014, Stephanie has volunteered in various programs in New York City through Hope for New York and with her local church, which helps many people from different backgrounds. Stéphanie has also helped the Spanish-speaking population as a translator. In 2016, Stephanie took the initiative to distribute meals, clothes and duvets to homeless people living on the streets every winter with the help of her family. Previously, Sandy was a program coordinator for a transportation service for seniors and people with disabilities. volunteer coordinator, supervisor of the classification center and director of the Department of Women`s Affairs at the Luzerne County Jail in Pennsylvania; and preschool teacher at the Center for Early Learning in New York. As the wife of a pastor, Sandy also serves churches in a variety of ways, including leading Bible studies for women, counseling, developing and leading ministries for children, facilitating workshops, speaking at women`s events, writing and directing plays. She also participated in three short-term missions to Moscow, Russia, where she taught at New Life Bible College and Korean Seminary in Flushing, New York.

Lord. Mahoney began his service assignment at Princeton University, receiving his B.A. in English and completing the teacher preparation program. His faith led him to New York to look for ways to teach underprivileged youth. During his five years teaching in the Bronx, Matt also looked for ways to put his faith into practice by volunteering with two nonprofits. After 5 years of volunteering at Operation Exodus Inner City, Inc., Matt began leading Exodus` educational programs in June 1999, developing excellence in after-school, Saturday and summer programs, and leading the organization as Executive Director in 2003. Nicole graduated from Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis (now IU Robert McKinney School of Law) and became a member of the Indiana State Bar (inactive) in 2006 and the New York State Bar in 2008. Sandy Stefanski joined Open Hands Legal Services in June 2010 as Program Coordinator.

She brings over 35 years of experience caring for a wide range of populations, including the elderly, the physically handicapped and incarcerated women. Manhattan Legal Services (MLS) is proud to announce the creation of the Edward N. Simon Scholarship in partnership with the family of our colleague and social justice partner, Ed Simon. To donate to the scholarship, please click here. NEW: Visit our COVID-19 Customer Resources page for the latest updates on benefits and resources during the COVID-19 crisis. Sandy attended Philadelphia Bible University with a major in education. East Harlem office map 1827 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10035 Nicole Steward has been a public interest lawyer in New York City since 2008. She specializes in housing law and has represented poor and vulnerable tenants in housing courts in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. She began her public interest career as a staff lawyer at Eviction Intervention Services (now EIS Housing Resource Center) and then moved to the Legal Aid Society – Bronx Neighborhood Office. There, she worked as a residential staff lawyer and then became supervising lawyer for the Senior Lawyer of Record project.

She also co-supervised the Housing Assistance Program, one of the city`s first models of attorney counseling.