Legal Aid of Southeastern PA

By Marion Hoffman Fraley, Communications Director Legal Aid of Southeastern PA

Legal Aid of Southeastern PA celebrates 20+ years of service at Fête for Justice! 4 Freedoms, 4 Counties, 4 Justice!

Legal Aid of Southeastern PA celebrated 20+ years as a regional civil legal aid provider at the Fête for Justice on May 19. THANK YOU to the Montgomery Bar Association, MBA members, and all sponsors and friends who supported and joined us at Normandy Farm, Blue Bell for this milestone. Keynote Speaker

Reuben Jonathan Miller,

sociologist, University of Chicago assistant professor and author of Halfway Home: Race, Punishment and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, challenged attendees to consider the disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on Black and Brown people.

Trapeta B. Mayson,

2020-21 Philadelphia Poet Laureate, shared healing words of verse, including “In This Season” and “Superhero.” We celebrated 47 Honorees, whose work collectively paved the way for LASP’s service across 20+ years. William L. Baldwin, LASP Board President and Delaware County Bar Association Executive Director, and C. Shawn Boehringer, LASP Executive Director, both shared brief remarks.

Honorees whose work on behalf of LASP has taken place primarily in Montgomery County included: • Nancy R. Paul, former Montgomery Bar Association and Montgomery Bar Foundation Executive Director for over 30 years. A driving force behind many award-winning access-tojustice initiatives, Nancy served as president of the LASP Board of Directors from 2014-16 and was a longtime member of the LASP Board. • Harvey F. Strauss joined Montgomery County Legal Aid Service (MCLAS) in 1976 as staff attorney and became director in 1978. Harvey was chosen as one of the two directors with Elizabeth Wood Fritsch in Bucks County to lead the newly formed LASP, a position he held until his 2013 retirement. • Longtime current members of LASP’s Board of Directors Joseph P. Lynch and Paul Troy. • Consumer law attorney, Cary L. Flitter has presented consumer law trainings to LASP staff, including virtually during the pandemic, and has been instrumental in directing over $260,000 in residual class action funds to LASP. • Current longtime LASP staff Jean Gauger, Pottstown Office Manager; Nanci Hoover, Helpline Supervising Attorney; and Susan Rizzardi, Norristown Office manager. • Edward Danelski and Susan Strong both retired as LASP Staff Attorneys in fall 2021. Susan served more than 41 years and Ed more than 39 years. Both received the Honorable Milton O. Moss Public Service Award from the Montgomery Bar Foundation in January 2022. • Hon. Stewart J. Greenleaf, Sr. (1939-2021). As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he led hearings across the state in 2013 on access to justice for low-income Pennsylvanians. • John Paul Knox (1927-2015), who was on the Board of Directors of Montgomery County Legal Aid Service and was appointed as a Montgomery County representative in the merger mediation process. His firm, Timoney Knox, hosted several mediation meetings, and he was on LASP’s inaugural Board in 2001. • Mark Levin, retired Chief Counsel of Regional Housing Legal Services, was Executive Director of RHLS affiliate Commonwealth Housing Development Corporation. In that role, he acquired and redeveloped 625 Swede Street in Norristown to serve as LASP’s headquarters and assisted LASP in establishing a reserve fund for maintenance of the building. • Mitchell W. Miller (1926–2016) played a major role in the efforts of the private bar to develop a legal services program for Montgomery County. Mitch’s reputation as a skillful advocate and dedicated and compassionate civic leader did much to advance the idea for a legal service program among the leaders of the Montgomery Bar Association. These efforts culminated in the founding of the Montgomery County Legal Aid Service in

1975. Mitchell remained active in legal aid for the remainder of his professional life. • Mark Schwartz led Regional Housing Legal Services (RHLS) as its Executive Director for nearly 40 years. He currently serves as Of Counsel at RHLS. Mark is Vice Chair of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) Board. As a senior member of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (PLAN) project directors group, he provided invaluable guidance and leadership to other directors. He was instrumental in LASP receiving funding through the PA Dept. of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Neighborhood Assistance program, which funds work in distressed communities in Lower Bucks County. • William Shimer retired from LASP in 2016 after serving as Managing Attorney of first the Pottstown office and later Norristown offices. Bill was a member of the merger group that accomplished the consolidation of the four county legal aid programs into LASP.

The complete list of Honorees

(posthumous Honorees are indicated by an *):

National Champions: U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Co-Chairs, Congressional Access to Legal Aid Caucus.

Founders: Dean P. Arthur, Ballard Spahr LLP, Ronald R. Bolig, William J. Carlin, Sr.*, Elizabeth Wood Fritsch, William J. Gallagher, Hon. Isaac S. Garb*, Catherine Herman, Carolyn E. Johnson, John Knox*, Mark Levin, Jeffrey P. Lewis. Joseph P. Lynch, Mitchell W. Miller*, Robert “Sandy” Mulhern, Jr., Elizabeth Price*, Louis S. Rulli, Mark Schwartz, William Shimer, Harvey F. Strauss, Michelle R. Terry and Donald J. Weiss.

Sustainers: Judith Algeo, William L. Baldwin, Mardi Busanus, Edward Danelski, Cary L. Flitter, Jean Gauger, Eleonor “Ellie” Glasco, Hon. Stewart J. Greenleaf*, Nanci Hoover, Rachel Houseman, Maryjane B. Kelley*, Wendy C. Leeper, Patricia “Pat” MacCorkle, John F. McKenna, Nancy R. Paul, Randi Riefner, Susan Rizzardi, June E. Schrader*, Deborah Steeves, Susan Strong, Paul Troy, Karen Tyler and Catherine H. Voit.

Please visit lasp.org/fete for links to Flickr photo albums with Fête photos and individual bios for each Honoree, and links to LASP’s YouTube page including several Fête videos, including brief reflections from LASP’s founding Co-Executive Directors Harvey Strauss and Elizabeth Wood Fritsch, longtime LASP attorneys and staff members, and remarks from U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.

Former Executive Directors’ Reflections on Merging 4 County Programs into LASP

Before the Fête, Executive Director C. Shawn Boehringer interviewed LASP’s founding Co-Executive Directors, Harvey F. Strauss and Elizabeth Wood Fritsch, on the challenges of merging the four county programs to form LASP. Prior to LASP’s founding on Jan. 1, 2001, individual county programs in Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware counties had strong, long-standing civil legal aid programs, but federal and state programs mandated the merger. They both recalled it as a challenging time. “Our greatest fear was that the Bar Associations would not support a regional program, and fortunately, that turned out to be an unfounded fear,” Liz reflected. “Our associations did support the merger and really made it successful.” Harvey recalled the two years of negotiations between the four counties, facilitated by the help of consultant Gerry Singsen, formerly of Legal Services Corp.; pro bono assistance from Ballard Spahr LLP; and mediation help from Louis Rulli of the University of Pennsylvania. “It was a long, involved process,” Harvey said. “We were a little reticent about the idea of merger, but we fought through the process. We had lots of resources, lots of meetings, and as you all know, we eventually went to mediation led by Lou. After two years, we finally decided to merge, and looking back, I think it was an extraordinary process and draining and politically charged at times, but we wound up with a really good merger of four county, now middle-sized program with quite a few resources, great staff because we were able to keep most of the staff for the four smaller programs. ... We were pretty enthusiastic about the fact that we were going to be able to do not only what we’ve always done but also get into some new areas. ... I always thought ours was one of the most successful in the country.”

Thank you again to Montgomery Bar Association and members for your support. Though our celebration has ended, LASP’s work continues!