Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A

"Go Purple Day" is a chance to bring attention to domestic violence and to show support for survivors. By wearing the purple ribbon or purple clothes, we stand in solidarity with those impacted and pledge to stand up to DV in our lives. October also marks the second anniversary of Brooklyn A's DV Program. Read the latest from our blog to learn more about the program's work and how we're recognizing DV Awareness Month: https://lnkd.in/eVjRXsNH

Brooklyn A is proud to have worked closely with Council Member Nantasha Williams on her bill Int 1086, which ensures property owners are notified of deed and mortgage filings on their property. This anti-deed theft measure, introduced in City Council late last week, would alert homeowners when scammers try to claim their property, preventing "clouded title" issues for the rightful owner. Read the full press release on Council Member Williams' website: https://lnkd.in/eNEmhpRK

Originally from Mexico, Rosalba was in the process of stabilizing her immigration status when she learned that an error in her tax filings meant she had over $21,000 in tax debt. She reached out for assistance and Brooklyn A negotiated an Offer in Compromise with the IRS that resulted in a settlement of the debt for $1. The resolution lifted a large burden off Rosalba and her two children. Rosalba now dreams of opening a bakery. Contribute to Brooklyn A to help us grow our Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, and visit the bka.org website to learn more about the work of our Consumer & Economic Advocacy (CEA) Program: https://bit.ly/BKAgive

Sarina and Elias own Buunni Coffe, cafés and a coffee line inspired by the love of coffee they bonded over when they met in Ethiopia. They were in midst of an ambitious business expansion when the pandemic hit–putting their new locations at risk. They worked with Brooklyn A attorneys to renegotiate the leases for three of their locations in Washington Heights and Inwood to be more sustainable, and to terminate the lease of their Bronx location on the best terms possible. Today,Buunni Coffee is thriving thanks to Sarina and Elias' teamwork with Brooklyn A. This work came through the Commercial Lease Assistance Program (CLA), which Brooklyn A administers in partnership with the NYC Department of Small Business Services. The program serves small business owners across all five boroughs, and in 2023 we served at least one small business in each City Council district of the city. Read more about our small business work in the 2023 Impact Report: https://lnkd.in/e7R-ajm5

The 2023 Impact Report is here! Last year we saw an uptick in the total number of New Yorkers served, reaching 9,182. This kind of growth is thanks to the remarkable dedication of our entire Brooklyn A staff, but was also thanks to you, our Brooklyn A community. We'll be sharing highlights from the report all week, including stories of our incredible clients and stats we're proud of. Visit the Brooklyn A website to read the full report: https://lnkd.in/e7R-ajm5

Codify HOPP! Yesterday, we joined Assemblymember Michaelle Solages for a press conference urging Governor Kathy Hochul to sign her legislation that would codify the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) funding into law. Brooklyn A's Tamara del Carmen, Director of the Consumer & Economic Advocacy Program, explained why HOPP is so important to our foreclosure work: "The funding allows us to help homeowners without charge. Making these services accessible is how we are able to reach homeowners and help more people stay in their homes in Long Island and throughout New York State." Read the full New York Legal Services Coalition letter supporting the HOPP codification bill here: https://lnkd.in/esCxZe_R

"As deed thefts and other scams have increased and evolved, there has – rightly – been attention paid to helping victims access justice. However, these laws provide redress after homeowners have been victimized. HOPP is the state’s only resource to protect homeowners and prevent the loss of homeownership to scams in the first place. Also, the success of existing legislative tools depends on HOPP advocates to ensure homeowners can avail themselves of these statutory protections and can navigate the complexities of the court system.   Given the pivotal and essential role HOPP plays in New York State’s nationally recognized response to preserving homeownership, we believe that now is the time for New York to codify the program and highlight it as a hallmark of our efforts to support homeowners and preserve affordable homeownership."  Read the full letter from the New York Legal Services Coalition here: https://lnkd.in/esCxZe_R

Stay connected with Brooklyn A! Signing up for our email list is the best way to make sure you never miss the latest events, educational resources, and news from Brooklyn A. Register today! Click here: https://lnkd.in/ejnUc2aR

Office Associate Marlon Vargas knows Brooklyn A inside and out. Having worked for us since 2017, he’s seen several chapters of the organization, helping us grow to double our size during his time on board. A Brooklyn native, Marlon was instrumental in getting our new Brooklyn and Queens offices up and running and has helped us spread our reach well beyond his home borough. Read this month's "Get to Know Brooklyn A" feature on our website to learn more about Marlon: https://lnkd.in/eGXXnN2g

We have some very exciting news to share! We have four internal promotions at Brooklyn A to announce: Effective 9/1/24, Alex Grzebyk is a Deputy Director in the CED Program and will join Deputy Director Bill Angelos in the supervision of the legal staff of the CED team. Prior to joining Brooklyn A, Alex worked as a real estate and general commercial litigation associate at Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein LLP. Alex joined the CED Program as a Staff Attorney in 2021 and became a Litigation and Negotiation Specialist in 2022. Effective 9/5/24, Tricia Lendore will become the new Director of the Preserving Affordable Housing: Brooklyn Program. Tricia started her legal career as a Law Fellow and then Staff Attorney at Brooklyn A in our Preserving Affordable Housing Program. In 2015, Tricia left Brooklyn A to serve as an Assistant Law Clerk to an Appellate Division and Supreme Court Justice. She then served as Assistant Corporation Counsel for the NYC Law Department. We happily welcomed Tricia back to Brooklyn A as a Senior Staff Attorney and Litigation Specialist in the PAH program in 2019 and she became a Deputy Director in 2020. Luz Maria Mack has become a Deputy Director in the CED Program and in this role supervises the program staff of the CED team. Luz is an operations professional with decades of expertise in project coordination and management across diverse industries. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration. Prior to joining Brooklyn A as a Program Coordinator in our CED program in 2023, previously she served as a Senior Associate with the non-profit organization Multiplying Good helping highlight volunteers in local news and through a prestigious award ceremony. And effective 9/23/24, Loveleen Zoria will be the inaugural Legal Affairs & Compliance Director/Assistant General Counsel. Prior to joining Brooklyn A in 2022 as a Senior Staff Attorney in our CED Program, Loveleen was a startup founder at an early-stage agricultural technology company in New York and worked as an attorney at Court Square Law Project where she represented clients in small business and trademark law matters. Prior to her entrepreneurial career and experience in business law, Loveleen worked as an attorney at Ford Harrison LLP advising companies on their employment and labor law matters. Loveleen has also worked as a Judicial Fellow for Honorable Judge Gerald Lebovits in New York Supreme Court. We would also like to recognize the contributions of outgoing PAH: Brooklyn Program Director, Kristie Ortiz. Kristie has led our PAH program through its greatest growth in our more than 55-year history and we are thankful for her steadfast dedication to our clients and her team. We are so excited to have these talented and dedicated individuals take on these leadership roles in the organization and to continue their support of our staff and service to our clients in these new capacities. Please join us in congratulating Alex, Tricia, Luz, and Loveleen!