cgla's blog

A big congrats to three of CGLA's own who were honored at the Chicago Kent College of Law Public Interest Awards last week.  Housing and Family Attorney, Jill Roberts received an honorable mention as a recipient of a Loan Repayment Assistance award and housing intern Kylin Fisher received the Dean's Distinguished Public Service Award. Paul Haidle, Criminal Records Attorney received the 2012 Honorable Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Public Interest Law Award (see previous blog post for more on this award and Paul's accomplishments).

We are proud of the accomplishments of all three, and so honored to have them on our team!

To see pictures of the awards ceremony and reception, visit Chicago Kent College of Law's album on flickr.

On April 10 – 12, CGLA volunteers, interns and staff represented 19 individuals before the Prisoner Review Board (PRB).  Each was asking the PRB to recommend that Governor Quinn grant their petition for clemency in order to remove old offenses from their records.  Every spring and fall, CGLA represents individuals who meet our strict guidelines of having no arrests or convictions in the last 10 years and demonstrated life changes.

This spring our team did an excellent job.  In fact, of the nineteen petitions, four received no objection whatsoever by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office!  A rarity indeed!  The hard part now that the hearings are over is the waiting that comes.  Governor Quinn is working through the backlog of petitions he inherited, but he is currently still reviewing filings from 2007.   Though the wait may be long, when petitioners receive a pardon from the Governor, it allows them to begin putting their past behind them and removes barriers to them achieving their professional and personal goals.

Five of our clients celebrated that milestone just last week when their received word that Governor Quinn had granted their petitions from October of 2007.   A huge congratulations to these five individuals and thank you to all of the volunteers who participated in the hearings.  You help put our clients in a position to receive a positive response when their time comes.

Join CGLA & Our YPB on March 22!

Tickets available on-line at www.cgla.net/event-list
$45/person through February 29
$50/person after March 1

We are happy to announce CGLA's first-ever electronic newsletter which hit mailboxes of our subscribers last Tuesday.  This new format (changed from our old archaic ways of printing and mailing hardcopies) will significantly cut costs and our carbon footprint, while making it easier and faster for our friends and supporters to get all the latest CGLA news.

Didn't get the e-mail?  Be sure to visit our website and join our mailing list (at the bottom of the homepage) - it's that easy!  Get in the know about upcoming events, hot topics that impact CGLA and our community, and what's new at CGLA.  Hear inspiring stories about our clients fighting for justice, and our dedicated volunteers.  Find out what specific donations will currently have a big impact on CGLA and our ability to serve our clients.  In the Winter 2012 issue, also read a special interview with CGLA's co-founder Chuck Hogren as he reflects on the beginning of CGLA as we are coming up on our 40th anniversary, and a recap of our most successful Annual Benefit to date.

To view the full newsletter, click Here.  Enjoy!

By Gretchen Slusser, CGLA Executive Director

Giving back to the community where we live is important and I believe that this idea should also translate to corporations that do much of their business locally.  For years I found myself donating to causes abroad or in poorer areas of the United States.  Those guys on State Street got me just about every time with their pictures and stories of those less fortunate around the world and in our country.

It was not until I started a business in 2007 that I turned around my thoughts on giving.  The city of Chicago was where my company hung its hat, our employees were Chicago-based, our clients were Chicago-based and many of those clients were education and government focused organizations, the same organizations that were providing services to the people of Chicago.  It made me think, “What are we doing to help the people of Chicago,” the people that live in the city that provides me with my livelihood?

I decided that thredpartners would become intentional in its giving back to the community and we started setting aside a percentage of profits each year to be distributed as we saw fit to Non-Profit agencies that helped the people of Chicago. 

Sound like an idea worth exploring?  I would recommend spending some time volunteering with the organization you choose, familiarizing yourself with their mission and understand the impact that they can have in the community.  When supporting a cause, it is important to believe in them and to be able to explain that belief to others.  This helps you indirectly support them through advocacy.

A key to giving back locally is being able to see the contribution in action, seeing the affect that you are having in the community in person rather than through a newsletter or postcard.  Take time to go and see what your support is doing in the community, it is your money in action and it feels great to know that you are contributing to your community, the community that has been so good to you and your business.

If all Chicago-based businesses would decide to take a percentage, whatever number that may be, and set it aside for distribution to a local community service non-profit, imagine the good we could do for the people of our great city.