| Community
Economic Development Project
In 1999 the District of Columbia Bar Pro Bono Program launched the Community Economic Development (CED) Project. The CED Project’s mission is to provide legal assistance to community based nonprofit organizations and small business entrepreneurs serving low-income communities or who are economically disadvantaged.
The CED Project accomplishes its mission by:
- Matching community based nonprofits with pro bono legal
counsel. Through the CED Project, pro bono counsel have assisted nonprofit
organizations in such areas as employment law, real estate, corporate
governance, contract review, intellectual property, and exempt organizations.
- Conducting training sessions in partnership with other nonprofit
and government agencies. These sessions help educate nonprofit organizations and small businesses
on important legal issues such as board governance, employment law,
nonprofit regulation, and other legal issues.
- Arranging legal counsel for low-income tenant associations. Through the Affordable Housing Preservation Task Force, the CED Project works with other social services agencies and pro bono counsel to provide legal assistance to tenant associations whose buildings are being sold, are converting to condominiums, or which are eligible for Section 8 assistance.
- Sponsoring walk-in small business legal clinics. The purpose of the
clinics is to provide legal information to small business owners who
operate in economically disadvantaged areas or who have limited financial
resources. The clinic provides current and aspiring business owners
an opportunity to speak with an attorney. The Project recruits volunteer
attorneys who help review paperwork and answer questions about business
formation, taxation, real estate leases, employment law, and other issues
common to small business owners. The Project also provides resources
to the volunteer attorneys to assist them in answering such questions.
To date, the CED Project has provided the following assistance to people and organizations in need of legal assistance:
- Matched approximately 150 nonprofit organizations with pro bono counsel for ongoing legal representation.
- Assisted approximately 300 small-business owners through the small-business clinics.
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