Volunteer Attorney Services finds a permanent home in the Wenatchee Valley
Chelan-Douglas County Volunteer Attorney Services, which provides civil legal assistance to folks with limited financial resources, will soon leave its cramped and difficult-to-access rented offices in downtown Wenatchee and will soon move to a permanent home at 900 Ferry St.
The new property represents a leap forward for CDCVAS in terms of its ability to serve its clients in a 5,000-square-foot space that has enough room for expansion or to offer space to other nonprofits serving similar clients.
Eloise Barshes, the executive director, made that announcement at the Portraits of Justice Gala recently, the annual fundraiser that supports the day to day operations of the nonprofit. The organization raised $145,000 from this year’s event to support its work.
Our legal system, sad to say, benefits those with financial resources at the expense of people on the other end of the spectrum. CDCVAS was created to level the playing field by matching volunteer lawyers with clients needing help in civil cases, such as family court issues.
Last year, local attorneys logged nearly 2,000 hours, which reflects the tremendous community challenge we have with the high rate of poverty in Chelan and Douglas counties.
Former Douglas County Prosecutor Steve Clem and designer Mark Shorb are chairing a $1,035,000 campaign to fund the purchase and renovation of the building.
Nearly half of that amount has already been committed, which shows the amount of support that CDCVAS enjoys here. A good share of the down payment came from a $209,000 distribution from a class action settlement in a case won by Clay Gatens of Gatens, Green, Weidenbach. He selected CDCVAS as one of three beneficiaries of the settlement funds in 2019. An equal portion has been committed by 900 Ferry Street Capital Project Committee members.
The ability of CDCVAS to serve clients will be dramatically improved in the new facility, which will offer parking for staff and clients, a comfortable waiting room, private offices for legal consultation and will be fully ADA accessible after renovations, according to Barshes. The current rental space CDCVAS occupies is about one-fifth of the size. The new facility also has a kitchen and a conference room that could be shared with other organizations to host community meetings and retreats.
The location of the building is ideal for serving CDCVAS clients. “It’s in the heart of the community we serve,” said Barshes. Rather than paying rent, building equity in a property will contribute to the financial sustainability of the nonprofit and ensure that CDCVAS continues to serve the community for generations to come.
The ability to host community partners and share work space will open up new opportunities to better serve people. As Clem pointed out, “many of the folks that we see that need legal help have other issues going on in their lives that are causing the legal problem.” Solving the legal issue isn’t going to solve those underlying challenges, whether that’s outstanding medical bills or other life issues, he pointed out.
“Legal problems can be so destabilizing,” said Barshes. Those stresses impact families, creating instability that impacts people’s ability to be successful at work, in school,” she added.
A lot of people with limited income think the system is stacked against them, said Shorb. When a caring volunteer helps them navigate their legal issues, the payoff is that people develop greater confidence in the system and feel more in control of their lives.
Having limited resources makes it tough to live in any community these days. The work that CDCVAS staff and attorneys are doing gives people greater faith in our community and the legal system.
Clem, Shorb and their “900 Ferry Street Dream Team” made of legal champions like retired judges Lesley Allan and Teresa Kulik, attorneys Russ Speidel, Erin McCool, Bob Siderius, Christina Davitt, Colleen Frei and retired Commissioner Bart Vandegrift will be busy seeking contributions to complete fundraising for the purchase and renovation of the new facility. It’s a project worthy of our support.