LIFT’s mission is to enhance access to justice for children and families by providing legal information, community education, and compassionate guidance, while promoting system-wide reform of the courts and public agencies.

Description:
Celebrating our 11th year of service, LIFT is the only nonprofit organization in New York City dedicated to building legal literacy – ensuring that families, particularly low-income families without legal representation, have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic legal information and services needed to make appropriate legal decisions. We provide our services where families need us most - in the courthouses and in their own communities - through the operation of seven Court-based Education & Information Sites, a Legal Information Hotline, twenty-three original multilingual Legal Resource Guides, a Legal Education Program, and the Family Legal Center.

All of our programs share the common goal of empowering families to successfully navigate and exit the legal system. During the past year, LIFT served nearly 50,000 people - 92% of whom did not have a lawyer and the majority of whom were Black or Latina women. LIFT also works to inform statewide reform of the courts by serving on a wide range of influential advisory committees and coalitions. With no other organization doing this work in the City, LIFT’s one-of-a-kind programs address a significant, and otherwise unmet, need.

To accomplish this mission, LIFT operates the following programs:

-Family Court-Based Education & Information Sites (EI Sites) operate in the New York City Family Courts. At the Sites, located in the entranceways and waiting areas of the courthouses, bilingual Coordinators provide litigants with: information about family law, multilingual Legal Resource Guides, and referrals to community-based organizations.

-A Criminal Court-Based Education & Information Site (EI Site) is located directly beyond the metal detectors in the Brooklyn Criminal Court lobby. At this Site, bilingual Coordinators work with crime victims, those accused of crimes, and the families of both to increase access to justice by demystifying the criminal justice system as well as addressing the ways that Family Court and Criminal Court involvement may intersect.

-The Legal Information Hotline, the only one of its kind in the City, operates from Monday-Friday between 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Bilingual Hotline Associates provide callers with practical legal information, the opportunity to brainstorm between court appearances, and referrals to community-based organizations.

-The Legal Education Program brings vitally important legal information into New York City’s neediest communities. The program’s overarching goal is to keep families out of the courts when possible and accelerate the resolution of cases when they do seek judicial relief.

-Family Court Judge for a Day introduces members of the private and public sectors to Family Court, from the unique perspective of the judge’s bench, with the goal of forging innovative partnerships and collaborations in order to improve the conditions of the Court system and ensure that our programs provide consistent and high-quality service.

-The Family Legal Center serves mothers and fathers involved in custody, visitation, and child support cases without the benefit of a lawyer by providing ongoing, individualized legal information, emotional support, and holistic services including financial literacy education, parenting skills workshops, and job training/placement.

Contact people:

Jasmin Redhead, Volunteer Coordinator, (646) 613-9633, (email) Ali Syed, (646) 613-9633, (email)

Address:

350 Broadway, Suite 400 New York, NY 10013 (See a map)

Directions:

From Canal Street, turn onto Broadway headed downtown.   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: N, Q, R, W, 6 to Canal,   Walk distance (in minutes): 3