PARTNERSHIP MAKES US ALL STRONGER By CINDY COLE ETTINGOFF, CEO and General Counsel, Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc.
T
he pandemic has given a whole new meaning to the phrase, “it takes a village.” Each business that closed and each individual that called frantically seeking help made it clear that we are all partners in the pandemic. While not all of us lost a job, most of us know someone who did or know someone who was unable to work due to lack of child care or for health-related reasons. It is common knowledge that the pandemic hit poor people harder, particularly poor people of color, who had never been paid enough to be able to accrue savings that they could draw upon to pay rent when their jobs closed. However, the pandemic has impacted more than just those who were poor at the outset of the pandemic. Almost weekly we receive a call from someone who previously had a higher salaried job, who has become jobless. Most of us would find fifteen months with no income difficult. Yet, many in our community have faced and continue to face that reality. Now more than ever, the services offered by Memphis Area Legal Services, Inc. (MALS) are needed and needed by more community members than ever before. That is where MALS’ partnerships come into play. In an effort to make the dollars we receive go further, to do more good for more people, MALS has focused on partnerships. This year MALS has had the privilege of working with donors and service organizations who share our vision of a better community. One such partnership involves, among others, the City of Memphis, Shelby 24
County, and the University of Memphis School of Law to provide training for pro bono volunteer attorneys and to pair those attorneys with tenants facing evictions. As part of that partnership, MALS’ attorneys also represent tenants in an effort to prevent evictions. Another partnership in which MALS is involved is the Signature Corporate Pro Bono Initiative, involving International Paper, Baker Donelson, Butler Snow, Bass Berry, Just City, and Amber Floyd, General Counsel for the Airport Authority. Through this initiative trained pro bono attorney volunteers staff expungement and restoration of rights clinics. The goal in obtaining expungements and restoration of rights is to remove roadblocks that can prevent individuals from being employed or obtaining better employment. MALS also has an ongoing partnership with the University of Memphis School of Law whereby students participate in Alternative Spring Bring and various externship and internship opportunities with MALS. This year, Alternative Spring Break (ASB) offered students the opportunity to work in an area where students have not typically worked in the past. However, given the unusually high level of unemployment and the variety of and confusion about the various types of state and federal unemployment available, a new ASB track was created to address that area of legal need. As a result, supervised students served MALS clients in addressing unemployment claims, appeals, and waivers.
