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Verdict is positive for Illinois Legal Aid Online
Lauren Matecki of Crystal Lake (left) and Mandy Weare of Chicago. | Natasha Wasinski~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: July 8, 2012 8:25AM
A decade ago a small group of Chicago attorneys mapped out plans on a bar napkin to deliver Internet-based legal services to the poor. Today, 2.5 million people access Illinois Legal Aid Online’s statewide websites, mobile apps and community-based self-help centers when a lawyer is out of reach.
For their foresight and faith, Illinois Legal Aid Online honored the triumvirate responsible for its founding — the IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, Lawyer’s Trust Fund of Illinois and the Chicago Bar Foundation — at the second annual fundraising gala May 3.
Keeping in line with its mission to be cutting edge, Legal Aid hosted the event at the swanky new Radisson Blu Hotel, which made its North American debut last fall in the world-renowned Aqua Tower in Chicago.
After dinner and an awards reception, Lisa Domanico of Johnsburg took the stage to tell the 300-guest crowd about the impact
IllinoisLegalAid.org had on her family’s life.
“Information is power. And that power enabled me to support my children and fight for the rights they were entitled to,” she said. “If it weren’t for this website … I might have given up. If any of you are sitting out there wondering if what you do matters, I’m here as a walking, breathing, living testimony that it is exceptionally important. There is light, and there is hope, and there is life at the end of the tunnel.”
Bottom Line: The gala raised $184,000 to support the delivery of Illinois Legal Aid Online’s free legal resources and services.
