Access to Justice

Community Justice Connect (formerly Legal Hand) is a network of neighborhood storefront sites that trains community volunteers to provide free legal information, resources, and referrals to their neighbors. People facing civil legal challenges in areas like housing, public benefits, employment, family law, immigration, can get help before the issues escalate into crises requiring court intervention.

As the COVID-19 pandemic forced organizations and institutions to shift to operating remotely, disparities driven by the digital divide became a shared problem across major cross-sector systems important to a community’s well-being. The Health, Housing, and Justice Alliance sought to eliminate inequities of fully virtual legal, healthcare, and social services through the creation of pop-up navigation centers and court hubs throughout Newark, New Jersey.

On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, an introduction to the origins, programming, and community impact of Neighbors in Action, formerly known as the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center. Neighbors in Action works to make the central Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant safer and healthier for all.