The AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania recently added a legal-services program in South Jersey to its official repertoire of programs.
The program is called the AIDS Law Project of Southern New Jersey.
It provides free legal services to people with HIV/AIDS living in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington counties.
The program was previously operated by All About Hope, an AIDS agency based in Voorhees, which recently closed.
The law project subcontracted with All About Hope to provide free legal services to clients with HIV/AIDS in South Jersey.
Now, the law project will provide the services directly, without a subcontractor.
“This is all about increasing the number of people that we can serve in South Jersey,” said Ronda B. Goldfein, executive director of the law project. “It’s a very positive step.”
She said the transition was smooth, with no interruption of services.
The law project was instrumental in creating a legal-services program in South Jersey about 20 years ago, Goldfein added
“Now this program is just as much a part of the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania as our housing program or our public-benefits program,” Goldfein said.
She said the expansion into South Jersey is a good fit for the agency.
“We have three attorneys in the Philadelphia office who are also licensed in New Jersey. We feel that, with incorporating the South Jersey program into the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, we’re able to bring greater support and back up to those South Jersey services.”
Additionally, Goldfein said, the law project is conducting a needs assessment.
“We’re doing an ongoing needs assessment to tailor the legal services in South Jersey to what people need,” she said. “We’re figuring out what we have, and what people need, as we go along.”
Legal services currently provided in South Jersey include: access to public and private benefits; antibias litigation; medical-confidentiality rights; and financial matters such as consumer debt, bankruptcy, estate planning, housing costs and utility bills.
The South Jersey program is staffed by attorney Charlotte Hollander, who works out of offices in Voorhees and Camden.
The South Jersey program may expand to include a Spanish-speaking attorney, Goldfein added.
“The short-term goal is to keep the services continued and uninterrupted,” Goldfein explained. “But our goal in the future is to have a more regular presence in Camden, and ideally a Spanish-speaking staffer.”
Goldfein said the law project has provided free legal assistance to about 37,000 individuals since 1988.
The agency has 10 full-time employees and one part-time employee, and an annual budget of $755,802.
“Those figures don’t include budget and staff for the South Jersey program, because we’re awaiting grant-award notifications,” she said.
Goldfein reiterated the law project’s commitment to providing quality legal services to people with HIV/AIDS in South Jersey.
“Free legal services for people with HIV and AIDS are vital and we want to be sure they continue in South Jersey.”