AABANY’s Pro Bono & Community Service (PBCS) Committee would like to thank everyone who attended the second and third hybrid Manhattan pro bono clinics in September and October, as well as the soft opening of the Queens pro bono clinic this past Saturday, Oct. 30. The three clinics assisted a total of fifty-five (55) clients, who sought advice on a range of topics, including housing law, immigration, elder law, loans and contracts, marriage and divorce, estates law and drafting of wills and powers of attorney, discrimination, 9/11 compensation, and fraud. PBCS and AABANY are grateful to the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) and Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) for co-sponsoring and hosting these clinics.
The clinics for the past two months could not have happened without the gracious help of many AABANY members and committees. During the September pro bono clinic, in collaboration with AABANY’s Bankruptcy Committee, PBCS provided a “Know Your Rights” presentation on the topic of bankruptcy and consumer debt. During the October clinics, Rina Gurung and Kevin Hsi, two of the three co-chairs of AABANY’s Government Service and Public Interest Committee, and Zhixian (Jessie) Liu, a co-chair of AABANY’s Immigration Committee, helped PBCS out by volunteering to see clients for one-on-one informational consultations. Thanks to AABANY’s Committees for their camaraderie!
At the pro bono clinics, PBCS volunteers use quick issue-spotting skills to help members of the AAPI community and those with limited English proficiency know what their rights are. For instance, while answering housing questions, a volunteer discovered that a 70-year-old couple living at a rent-stabilized apartment was eligible for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exception (SCRIE). SCRIE is a program that allows qualified tenants to have their rent frozen at their current level and be exempt from future rent increases. This is crucial since most seniors depend on their fixed income. If their rent goes up, qualified SCRIE tenants do not have to pay the higher rent, as the City will pay the landlord the difference between the current rent and the future rent. The 70-year-old couple who came into the PBCS clinic will receive assistance from AAFE to apply for SCRIE.
In order to be eligible for SCRIE, an applicant must be 62 years or older, have less than $50,000 in household income, spend more than 1/3 of monthly income on rent, and reside in a NYC rent-stabilized apartment, rent-controlled apartment, rent-regulated hotel or single room occupancy unit, Mitchell-Lama development, Limited Dividend Housing Company development, Redevelopment Company development, or Housing Development Fund Company development. Senior citizens who own homes, condominiums or private non-government supervised co-ops may also be eligible for SCRIE. To learn more about SCRIE, see https://access.nyc.gov/programs/senior-citizens-rent-increase-exemption-%E2%80%8Bscrie/.
To learn more about the PBCS Committee and its work, click here and here. The next hybrid legal clinics will take place on Saturday, November 6, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at AAFE, 2 Allen Street (2nd Floor), New York, NY 10002; and Saturday, November 13, 2021, from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at CCBA, 62 Mott Street (2nd Floor), New York, NY 10013. For up-to-date details about the clinic and other events, please check PBCS’s event calendar.
And as always, we are always looking for volunteers to help us out!
To volunteer at CCBA’s Clinics – https://airtable.com/shrQFecVpU1u5ltAy
To volunteer at AAFE’s Clinics – https://airtable.com/shrtPeVTibQA9qNgD
AABANY thanks the following September 18, 2021 Manhattan CCBA Clinic Volunteers:
| AABANY | AAFE |
| Asako Aiba* | |
| Chao Yung (Kloe) Chiu | |
| Megan Gao | |
| Chenxin (Sarah) Li | |
| Eugene Kim | |
| Jason Kuo | |
| Judy (Ming Chu) Lee | |
| Karen Lin | |
| Erxian (Estelle) Lu* | |
| Jayashree Mitra | |
| Kensing Ng* | |
| Kwok Ng | |
| Grace Pan | |
| Anthony Park* | |
| S. Yan Sin | |
| Tina Song | |
| May Wong | |
| Courina Youlisa* | |
| Serena Zou^ |
AABANY thanks the following October 16, 2021 Manhattan CCBA Clinic Volunteers:
| AABANY | AAFE |
| Xuanyou (Alicia) Chen | Luna Fu^ |
| Francis Chin | |
| Yoonhee Kim* | |
| Judy (Ming Chu) Lee* | |
| Karen Lin | |
| Zhixian Liu | |
| Erxian (Estelle) Lu^* | |
| Megan Gao | |
| Kwok Ng | |
| Kendall Park^* | |
| S. Yan Sin | |
| Johnny Thach | |
| Annie Tsao | |
| Bill Yang^* | |
| Teresa Wai Yee Yeung^ | |
| May Wong | |
| Meng Zhang* |
AABANY thanks the following October 30, 2021 Queens Clinic Volunteers:
| AABANY | AAFE |
| Esther Choi^ | Lilian Cheung |
| Megan Gao | Luna Fu |
| Rina Gurung | Gabriel Hisugan |
| Kevin Hsi | |
| Eugene Kim | |
| Kendall Park^* | |
| Rachel Ji-Young Yoo* | |
| May Wong |
^Non-attorney volunteers
*Remote volunteers
