The Brooklyn Jubilee Legal Services Ministry
Brooklyn Jubilee’s first program is a legal services ministry, providing free legal advice to the clients of the Helping Hands food pantry, operated by St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope, and students at the Russian Community Life Center in Brighton Beach, and the Brooklyn Arab American Friendship Center in Bay Ridge. We recently began partnering with Flatbush Development Corporation, serving Haitian immigrants in the wake of the tragic earthquake in January.
What do volunteers do?
• Bay Ridge: Volunteers will assist in teaching classes on basic legal rights. Classes will be held on a periodically throughout the year.
• Brighton Beach: Volunteers will assist in client intake for housing law questions, and when ready, teaching classes that will be held on a quarterly basis.
• Park Slope: Volunteers who will work directly with food pantry patrons during their normal Saturday morning grocery pick-up. Volunteers help food pantry patrons answer basic questions to enable them to learn about their rights to housing, food stamps, and public health insurance. Other volunteers will meet with interested food pantry clients in the “Prayer Corner” to pray with them.
• No experience is necessary. All volunteers receive training before they serve. You do not need to be an attorney to volunteer for any of these sites.
When do volunteers serve?
• Bay Ridge: Volunteers serve on Monday mornings (usually) from 10a.m. to noon. Because of cultural needs of the Arabic women, only female volunteers are able to serve at our Bay Ridge site.
• Brighton Beach: Volunteers will serve on Sunday evenings from 4-6pm. We will be in Brighton Beach on the third Sunday evening of every month through the end of June, and quarterly after that.
• Park Slope: Volunteers serve on Saturday morning at the Helping Hands food pantry, from 9:45a.m. to 12 noon. We serve in Park Slope one Saturday morning per month.
What is the volunteer time commitment?
Volunteer commitments can be flexible. Generally, volunteers will be expected to commit to serving at least one time per month, for a minimum of six months.
If any follow up to client questions is required, it is performed by the Executive Director, not the volunteers, so volunteer commitments are truly limited to on site services.
Interested in joining this ministry? Please visit our sign-up page.