About 40 Cumberland School of Law students participated in the 10th annual Project Homeless Connect 2017 event, held March 4 at Boutwell Auditorium in downtown Birmingham.
They joined volunteers from more than 60 Birmingham area agencies that included the city of Birmingham, the United Way of Central Alabama, Hands On Birmingham, and the Birmingham Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Program.
The annual day of service was established to break down the barriers to safe, decent, affordable housing for the homeless population in the greater Birmingham area. Homeless clients were provided with immediate access to services such as medical and dental care, grooming services, housing assistance, state IDs, and legal aid at no cost.
The Cumberland Law School group joined forces with law students from the University of Alabama School of Law and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law to form a legal force of about 100 law students who provided free legal services to many of the estimated 650 homeless served that day.
“Project Homeless Connect is a great way for our students to get practical experience with those in need,” said Cassandra W. Adams, assistant dean of Cumberland School of Law’s Public Interest Program and director of its Community Mediation Center. “They work alongside judges and lawyers that have volunteered their time to assist with the legal issues presented. This is an example of practicing law in the spirit of the Alabama Bar Motto ‘Lawyers Render Service.’”
