Our Community Partners
MLRI is a high-impact nonprofit that bridges the divide between direct service and systemic advocacy by collaborating through coalitions with legal aid programs, social service provider organizations and anti-poverty advocates who work with clients on the ground. Our systemic advocacy is informed by trends, issues and barriers identified in the field--at the community-level and client-level.
MLRI’s diverse networks cut across many areas that affect individuals and families living in poverty. These relationships, combined with our deep level of expertise and credibility with policymakers, enables us to be adaptive to the ever-changing needs of low-income and underserved communities and to leverage the power of its networks with key decision-makers.
Our Legal Services Partners:
As the statewide poverty law support center, MLRI serves as the “spoke in the wheel” of the legal services community of
Center for Law and Education
Center for Public Representation
Children’s
Community Legal Aid
Community Legal Services and
Greater
Legal Resource and
Massachusetts Justice Project
MetroWest Legal Services
Northeast Legal Services
Prisoners’ Legal Services
South Costal
Volunteer Lawyers Project
Our Advocacy Coalitions:
In conjunction with our direct interaction with legal services field programs, MLRI leads and/or is an active member of several legal services coalitions (which include legal aid lawyers as well as private practitioners and social service advocates) that focus on specialized legal areas that affect low-income and underserved individuals, families and communities. These include:
Benefits Coalition: The Benefits Coalition includes advocates who work on EA, and on DTA administered programs (TAFDC, SNAP, EAEDC).
Children’s Law Support Project: This is a collaborative effort to address the legal needs of
CORI Coalition: This group is composed of advocates who are concerned about CORI issues.
DCF /Child Welfare Coalition: This group works on issues involving the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
Elder Coalition: Legal services advocates whose practice includes representation of elders on benefits and health issues.
Employment Rights Coalition Legal services advocates and private practitioners representing low-income employees in employment law cases, including Unemployment Insurance, work-family issues, discrimination, etc.
Family Law Task Force: The Family Law Task Force coordinates a wide range of family law and domestic violence advocacy efforts in
Family Law Task Force Immigration Group: Family and immigration law advocates assisting immigrant clients with family law issues
Health Law Coalition: Advocates working on access to health care programs including MassHealth, Commonwealth Care, Health Safety Net, etc.
Housing Coalition: Housing advocates who represent low-income tenants.
Immigration Coalition: Advocates who work on wide range of issues affecting immigrant populations.
Language Access Coalition: Advocates interested in addressing language access barriers (affecting immigrant and refugee populations) in accessing the courts as well as legal and social services.
Race Equity Coalition: Advocates who focus on race and poverty (as well as geography and poverty) and who are developing strategies to address racial and geographic disparities in order to close the opportunity gap.
Our Community Partners/Allies:
In addition to MLRI’s relationships with the statewide legal services community, it has long-standing collaborative partnerships with an extensive and diverse network of local, state and national community organizations, advocacy groups and social service providers that work on issues affecting low-income populations and/or directly with low-income clients.
Below is a partial list of organizations that are part of MLRI’s network:
AARP-Massachusetts Chapter
ACLU of
ACLU National - Immigrant Rights Project
Action for
Action, Inc
AIDS Action Committee
Affordable Care Act (ACT!!) Today Coalition
African Community Health Initiatives
American Academy of Pediatrics-Massachusetts Chapter
American Immigration Council
American Red Cross Food Pantry
Amnesty International
Asian Task Force Against Violence
ASPIRA
Association of Haitian Women (AFAB)
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Resident Training Institute
Building Blocks Coalition
Casa Myrna Vasquez
Casey Family Services
Catholic Charities (MA, NY, D.C., FL)
Centro Presente
Center for Budget & Policy Priorities (D.C.)
Center for Law and Social Policy (D.C.)
Child Health Watch
Children's Hospital
Children’s Health Access Coalition
Children’s League
Children’s Services of Roxbury
Citizens for Citizens, Inc
Citizens for Juvenile Justice
Citizens Housing and Planning Association
City of
City of
City of
Coalition Against Poverty
Coalition for Human Needs
Coalition for Social Justice
Coalition to Protect Homeless Children
Committee for Public Counsel Services (CPCS)
Commonwealth Workforce Coalition
Community Action Agency of
Community Catalyst
Community Partners
COMPASS
Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries
Criminal Justice Institute
Crittenton Women’s
Disability Policy Consortium of
Domestic Violence Ended (DOVE), Inc.
Emerge
Families
Family and Community Resources
Greater
Greater
Harbor Communities Overcoming Violence (HarborCOV)
Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic
Harvard Law School, Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
Health Care for the Homeless
Horizons for Homeless Children
Families United in Educational Leadership (FUEL)
Family Economic Initiative
Federal Defenders
Finex House
Food Bank of Western Mass
Food Resource and
Food/SNAP Coalition
Greater Boston Food Bank
Harbor Health Services, Inc.,
HAWC | Healing Abuse Working for Change
Health Care for All
Health Law Advocates
Higher Ground
Home Care
Home for Little Wanderers
Hope House
Horizons for Homeless Children
Housing Justice Network
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ME)
Immigration Task Force
Institute for Health and Recovery
Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (CT)
International Institute of
International Institute of
Jewish
Jewish Family & Children's Services/Bet Tzedek
JobNET
Joint Committee for Children’s Healthcare
JRI Health Law Institute
Justice at Work
Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
League of Community Health Centers
Lutheran Social Services of
Martha Eliot Health Center
Massachusetts Home Care
Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy
Medical Legal Partnership Boston
Mental Health Legal Advisors
MetroWest Domestic Violence Collaborative
Multicultural Immigrant Coalition Against Violence
National Association of Social Workers-Mass. Chapter
National Council of La Raza
National Health Law Project
National Housing Law Project (D.C.)
National Immigration Forum
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild
National Low Income Housing Coalition (D.C.)
National Resident Engagement Group
Neighbor to Neighbor
New England
Northeastern
On the Rise
Parents Helping Parents
Physicians for Human Rights
Political Asylum and Immigrant Rights (PAIR) Project
Poor People's United Front
Project Bread
Public Policy Institute
REACH (Reach Beyond Domestic Violence)
Rosie’s Place
Safe Passage
The Second Step
Transition House
Service Employees International
Statewide Tenancy Preservation Program Committee
Strengthening Families Involved with DCF Coalition
Student Immigrant Movement
Tapestry Health
Tenant Advocacy Project
Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative
Tri-City Community Action Program
Vera Institute
Veterans Legal Services
Victims’
Voices Against Violence
Youth Village Inc.
YWCA of