Law Project
More than 85 percent of Law Project clients are homeless students and youth living in metropolitan Chicago. Under the direction of Laurene Heybach, three attorneys serve more than 200 clients a year.
Clients can reach the Law Project through its toll-free telephone helpline at 1 (800) 940-1119 .
Working with CCH community organizers, the Law Project provides regular outreach to family, youth and adult shelters. At shelter visits, the Law Project distributes information about the legal rights of homeless people, including medical debt relief.
CCH runs a mobile legal aid clinic for homeless and unaccompanied youth. The Youth Futures clinic offers weekly outreach through school and street programs, including the Center on Halsted and Teen Living Programs. The youth attorney has office hours at the Broadway Youth Center, where she co-runs a Tuesday night group for street youth, along with The Night Ministry and Lakeview Action Coalition. Now in its 7th year, the youth group is one of the longest running of its kind in the U.S.
As part of its enrollment outreach, the Law Project attends back-to-school fairs in Chicago and the suburbs. It also provides information about educational rights in a variety of settings such as libraries, schools, soup kitchens, stores and other locations that serve homeless and at-risk families. The Law Project partners with JPMorgan Chase to sponsor a school outreach program in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side.
The Law Project assists a small outreach program called Homeless Experiencing Legal Protection (HELP). U.S. District Court Judge Jay Zainey launched HELP clinics in New Orleans and 19 other cities, with CCH collaborating on its 2007 launch in Chicago. On a rotating schedule, 10 Chicago law firms send attorney volunteers to run legal aid clinics at Deborah’s Place and REST Shelter.
(Shown left, two Chase volunteers during street outreach with legal director Rene Heybach, center.)
