The expanded space will let staff help more people and reduce wait times for clients, Legal Aid DC said in a Monday announcement. It will also be home to a new program funded by the DC Bar Foundation to give low-income residents a one-stop shop for legal services.
The new office will be located in a storefront space at 1911 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, replacing the current location at the Anacostia Professional Building, also known as the Big Chair.
Slated to open in January, the future spot will be more than 1,500 square feet, which is nearly twice the size of the existing location. It will have increased staffing and five private offices, rather than the current two private offices, Executive Director Vikram Swaruup told Law360 on Tuesday.
Staff at the current Anacostia location can now see only two clients at a time because they need private offices for legal meetings, so clients often have to wait for meetings, Swaruup said. At the larger space with five private offices, people will be able to meet with staff "much, much more quickly than they are currently."
The new office will also expand Legal Aid DC's presence in a key community for the organization, as the majority of its clients live in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River, Swaruup said.
In addition to the Anacostia location in southeast D.C., Legal Aid DC also has a northwest D.C. office at 1331 H St. NW, which will remain.
The nonprofit said it's on pace this year to reach nearly 7,000 intakes, up from 6,500 last year. Growing need in areas including immigration law have contributed to the uptick, with continued demand also expected on legal issues related to housing and public benefits, Swaruup told Law360.
A grant from the DC Bar Foundation will help cover part of the cost of building out the new office, Legal Aid DC said.
The foundation announced in March that it had named Legal Aid DC as the host for DC Resource Bridge, a new coordinated intake and referral service. Trained navigators with the program connect residents with free or low-cost legal services, matching them with the provider best suited to help.
This will cut down on residents' time spent contacting a number of organizations and trying to figure out on their own where to turn, Swaruup said.
"For people who are facing legal issues, it will be a lot more efficient than the landscape that they're currently facing," he said.
In addition to the support from the DC Bar Foundation, Legal Aid DC credited the legal community for a "record level of fundraising" this year for making the new office possible, as well as the D.C. Council for fully funding the city's Access to Justice Initiative.
"All these things that we're doing, from the DC Resource Bridge to this expanded space, [are] designed to make it easier for people to access legal services," Swaruup said. "That is our ultimate goal, and so we're really excited about this opportunity."
--Editing by Emma Brauer.
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