Open enrollment for the health insurance marketplace begins. Let’s ENROLL VIRGINIA Nov.1 – Jan. 15!
Sunday, October 30th, 2022
Enroll Virginia’s statewide team of navigators is hard at work preparing for Open Enrollment, scheduling free one-on-one appointments and outreach events to guide consumers through the health insurance enrollment process. Open Enrollment at HealthCare.gov runs from November 1, 2022 through January 15, 2022. This is the only time of year that anyone can enroll in […]
A Time to Recharge: 2022 Annual Statewide Legal Conference
Friday, October 28th, 2022
More than 500 attorneys and staff members from Virginia’s legal aid community joined with pro bono attorneys and our community partners to attend the 42nd Annual Statewide Conference, hosted by Virginia Poverty Law Center. The hybrid conference offered both in-person attendance in Virginia Beach, as well as online-only sessions. It’s four very busy days, jam-packed with […]
VPLC’s Bar Stars Join Fight for Justice
Friday, October 28th, 2022
Congratulations to VPLC’s newest attorneys, Anna Daniszewski and Flannery O’Rourke, who passed the Virginia State Bar exam. Daniszewski received her Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law and works in VPLC’s Center for Family Advocacy as a Family Defense Fellow. O’Rourke graduated from the University of Richmond School of Law and is […]
Foster Care Update: Utilizing Kinship Care to Keep Families Together
Wednesday, October 5th, 2022
Author: Anna Daniszewski/VPLC Legal Fellow Virginia Governor Youngkin’s Safe and Sound Task Force has focused on gaps and lack of options for high-needs children in the foster care system. Many of these children were forced to sleep in DSS offices or emergency rooms. The task force is an exemplar for how to bring people together […]
Now Hiring: Enroll Virginia Program Coordinator
Monday, October 3rd, 2022
About VPLC and Enroll Virginia Since 1978, the Virginia Poverty Law Center has engaged in litigation, education, and lobbying to obtain justice for low-income Virginians and break down the systems that keep people in poverty. Enroll Virginia is a program of the Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) that was established in 2013 as a community-based […]
Calls to VPLC’s Eviction Legal Help Line Increase 500%
Tuesday, September 27th, 2022
Now that important tenant protections have expired, Virginia courtroom dockets are stacked with eviction filings — as rents continue to skyrocket and the federally funded rent relief program has ended. VPLC’s Eviction Legal Helpline is stretching to meet the need, as a typical week might bring more than 250 calls from desperate residents about to […]
Lonnie “Chip” D. Nunley, III Selected for Pro Bono Award
Monday, September 26th, 2022
It’s been said that the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. If this Mahatma Gandhi quote is true, you can bet Chip Nunley certainly knows himself inside and out. The long-serving litigator and trusted member of VPLC’s Advisory Council will receive the 2022 Lewis F. Powell, Jr. […]
Meet Anna Daniszewski, Family Defense Fellow
Monday, September 26th, 2022
New to VPLC’s Center for Family Advocacy, Anna Daniszewski will help ensure that parents involved in Virginia’s child welfare system have zealous lawyers fighting for their families. Daniszewski’s fellowship includes legislative and policy advocacy, providing legal services to parents, and developing trainings, practice protocols, and accountability standards. “Too often, children and parents are needlessly separated […]
Reducing the Trauma of Removal
Wednesday, August 31st, 2022
Why Reunification and Sibling-Placements Are Crucial to the Well-Being of Children in the Child Welfare System By Courtney Squires, Summer Intern for the VPLC Center for Family Advocacy, University of Richmond School of Law To ensure the child welfare system works in the best interest of children, it is important to understand that removal and […]
Meet Our New VPLC Team Members
Friday, August 19th, 2022
Flannery O’Rourke has joined VPLC as a Law & Policy Analyst. She will support legislative efforts within our Center for Healthy Communities in the areas of unemployment benefits and social security. She recently received her Juris Doctor degree from University of Richmond. Miranda Huffer is the newest member of the Development team. After a successful […]
Virginia’s Eviction Crisis
Friday, August 19th, 2022
Since July 1, Virginia has seen nearly 16,000 new eviction cases, marking the end of the state’s rent relief program and the expiration of temporary legal protections provided to tenants during COVID-19. In that time there have been more than 1,800 calls to VPLC’s Eviction Legal Helpline. That’s far more than the staff and volunteer […]
Grant Aims to Improve Access to Justice
Friday, August 19th, 2022
VPLC is the recipient of a $32,500 grant from the Virginia Law Foundation. Funds will be used to host the 2022 Annual Statewide Legal Aid Conference. The education and training event is known as one of the best civil poverty-law conferences in the U.S. VLF grants awarded to two dozen organizations increase access to legal […]
Final Settlement in Class Action Suit Pays Hundreds of Millions from Illegal Internet Lending Schemes
Wednesday, August 17th, 2022
Gibbs v. Elevate, Gibbs v. Stinson, Brice v. Stinson The US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia this week approved a settlement in the last of nine class action lawsuits against entities that sought to evade state and federal law by making extremely high-interest internet loans in Virginia and other states. The August […]
Hundreds of Richmond Renters Get a Crash Course on Legal Rights
Monday, August 8th, 2022
A Community Education and Engagement Specialist with VPLC’s Housing Advocacy team recently learned of emerging problems at the Pointe at River City apartment complex in Eastern Henrico County. After hearing about some of the issues facing tenants, the advocacy team spent a Friday afternoon combing through records at Henrico General District court. They discovered that more […]
Federal and State Lawsuits Fight ‘Slumlord’ Operating in Virginia
Friday, August 5th, 2022
The Virginia Poverty Law Center, Consumer Litigation Associates and Kelly Guzzo have filed federal and state lawsuits on behalf of tenants of the Seaview Apartments in Newport News. The lawsuits name Seaview Apartments LLC and Ben Weinstein and his New Jersey-based company Blue Rise Group as defendants. Fifty-eight tenants are prosecuting their claims under the […]
Virginia Poverty Law Center Expands Outreach
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022
New Team Members Help Break Down Barriers to Justice RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) welcomes two new Outreach Coordinators, a new LA VIDA Program Paralegal, a new Communications Director and, a new Office and Finance Manager to the team. Fresh off the heels of landmark wins against the Virginia Employment Commission […]
Virginia Must Do Better By Families
Monday, June 27th, 2022
By Valerie L’Herrou Families are important to all of us, but especially to children. As British pediatrician and psychologist DW Winnicott put it, “There is no such thing as a baby. If you set out to describe a baby, you will find you are describing a baby and someone. A baby cannot exist alone, but […]
PRESS RELEASE: Class action settlement provides $489 million in relief to victims of illegal internet payday lenders
Thursday, May 12th, 2022
After three years of extensive litigation, the settlement will provide relief to approximately 555,000 consumers who were subject to illegal practices by internet payday lenders. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2022 Richmond, VA – The federal court in Richmond today gave preliminary approval of a class action settlement that will provide $489 million of relief to […]
PRESS RELEASE: Statement from the Virginia Poverty Law Center and Legal Aid Justice Center on Gubernatorial Vetoes of HB573 and SB297 (Medical Debt Reform)
Thursday, April 14th, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 14, 2022 Virginia Poverty Law Center and Legal Aid Justice Center state that Governor Youngkin’s vetoes of Del. Clark’s HB573 and Sen. Deeds’ SB297 have derailed critical, popular, and thoughtfully crafted bipartisan consumer debt reforms for thousands upon thousands of Virginians. Richmond, VA – Outstanding bills for medical treatment are one […]
PRESS RELEASE: VPLC selects Salaam Bhatti as its new deputy director, hires Cassie Edner as its new public benefits attorney
Monday, February 28th, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Salaam Bhatti Cassie Edner RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia Poverty Law Center (VPLC) has welcomed Salaam Bhatti as the organization’s new deputy director and Cassie Edner as its new public benefits attorney. Bhatti was previously VPLC’s public benefits attorney for five years; Edner was previously a public benefits attorney at the Legal […]
2022 Session Update: What’s in the Budget?
Friday, February 25th, 2022
On Sunday, each body of the General Assembly reported its budget. As expected, we have good news and bad news around which of our priorities received funding. While we’re disappointed some of our priorities didn’t make it into the budgets, we’re hopeful about the items that have been included, and we’ll continue bringing up the […]