PSEG Foundation recently continued its support of VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program with a renewed grant of $85,000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2023
CONTACT
Eric W. Hughes
Bershad Director of Communications
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
(973) 233-5724
ehughes@vljnj.org
Newark, NJ – Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ) announces with deep gratitude that the PSEG Foundation recently continued its support of VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program with a renewed grant of $85,000. VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program helps veterans in New Jersey with certain civil legal issues, including criminal record expungement, driver’s license restoration, bankruptcy, consumer debt defense, eviction defense, child support modification, and estate planning.
PSEG remains a steadfast champion of pro bono and supporting those who served. As can be the case for far too many veterans, acclimating to civilian life after service can be challenging and filled with unforeseen barriers. Realizing the challenges our veterans face led PSEG in 2014 to partner with VLJ to launch the Veterans Legal Program. Over the years, VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program has been a stunning success, with PSEG’s legal department not only recruiting volunteers from area law firms like McCarter & English LLP and Gibbons, P.C., but PSEG’s efforts also enabled the expansion of the program in 2017 to serve even more veterans at the East Orange VA Medical Center.
“As a veteran-friendly workplace, PSEG is proud to support our veterans through some of their most vulnerable times,” said Calvin Ledford, PSEG Foundation president and Corporate Social Responsibility director. “This partnership supports those who have bravely served our country yet who often find it difficult to ask for help, and provides equitable and just outcomes from top legal professionals. It also enables PSEG attorneys and support staff to volunteer in meaningful ways.”
Cathy Keenan, VLJ’s executive director, said, “Time and time again, PSEG, whether through its generous financial support or generous donation of time and talent by legal staff, has shown its commitment to ensuring access to justice for those who so nobly served our country. This commitment by PSEG, along with its powerful pro bono partnership, is a critical foundation on which Volunteer Lawyers for Justice operates, and it is not hyperbole to say that without PSEG and dedicated partners like them, our efforts and ability to serve neighbors and community members facing injustice in New Jersey would be far more challenging. PSEG’s continued support of VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program means veterans have advocates in their corner, fighting to address their unmet civil legal needs, be it eviction, family law, estate planning, or financial instability. This renewed $85,000 grant allows VLJ to continue fighting for those who put their lives at risk to defend our freedom, and we are incredibly grateful to PSEG and the PSEG Foundation for steadfast support and partnership.”
PSEG’s renewed support of VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program is far more than dollars and cents, it is people helping people realize and achieve the lives they deserve (or, as VLJ’s tagline frames it, “Taking cases. Changing Lives.”). One such example of PSEG’s support leading to changed lives is “Thomas,” a veteran who came to VLJ for help resolving a child custody matter. Adding to the situation, Thomas lived in Florida and was seeking assistance with his parental visitation and communications rights; Thomas’s ex-spouse took his child from Florida to New Jersey and refused to allow Thomas to see or visit his child. Indeed, when Thomas would travel from Florida to New Jersey to see his child, Thomas’s ex-spouse would not let him. Through determination, powered by technology and ingenuity, VLJ staff attorneys helped Thomas successfully obtain an order in New Jersey granting him the right to speak with his child every other day and with firm plans for Thomas to visit and see his child. A father and child reunited after several years apart: that’s the power PSEG’s support and partnerships has.
PSEG’s commitment to helping veterans has been remarkable: in the 10 years they have supported VLJ’s Veterans Legal Program, they have donated $845,000. Because of PSEG and the PSEG Foundation’s investment in our community, VLJ has helped over 1,400 veterans, addressing nearly 2,000 civil legal issues.
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About the PSEG Foundation
The PSEG Foundation (501(c)(3)), the philanthropic arm of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) (NYSE: PEG), prioritizes investments in promoting environmental sustainability, social justice, and equity and economic empowerment. Headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, PSEG is a predominantly regulated infrastructure company focused on a clean energy future.
About Volunteer Lawyers for Justice (VLJ)
VLJ is an award-winning, comprehensive nonprofit legal services program based in Newark, NJ, with a statewide reach. VLJ's mission is to ensure access to justice for people experiencing poverty. VLJ ensures equitable access to the civil legal system through partnerships with corporations and hundreds of volunteer attorneys and legal staff. In 2022, VLJ’s work impacted over 4,500 people—including 1,712 children—and VLJ’s volunteer attorneys provided $2.4 million in free legal services.