What is Amara Legal Center?
It was founded in 2011, and has since grown to offer a greater range of services to their clients, allowing them to help even more people than before. In 2013 the name of the organization changed from the Public Justice Center to the Amara Legal Center to reflect the commitment to providing high quality legal services to immigrant community. The mission and vision of Amara Legal Center is to advocate for justice and empower immigrant clients. They work with all of their clients, regardless of nationality or faith, although they do have a concentration on working with immigrants and refugees to access the US immigration system. The specific services that they provide include legal counseling and representation , referrals, advocacy, outreach, education and training, and impact litigation. The goals are similar to their mission and vision: to educate and inform the community for the betterment of the individuals in their community and those around them. To advocate for and represent marginalized communities, as well as to assist their clients in becoming self-sufficient. Clients with Amara Legal Center are primarily low income individuals who may have trouble accessing other services due to language barriers or other issues. Immigrants tend to best meet this criteria as they may not have other options available to them.
Distinctive Legal Services Provided
The Amara Legal Center’s services are unique, focusing primarily on Eastern European, Russian and Central Asian populations in Washington DC who may have suffered various forms of abuse and exploitation, including human trafficking. They also provide linguistic and legal access to housing, family law, employment law, immigration, and other areas of legal need through their Legal Services Division, the Litigation & Advocacy (L&A) Division and Human Rights Program. Amara specializes in serving victims of domestic violence, women and children at risk of and who have experienced sex trafficking and sexual exploitation, and those victims of government persecution and violence. While the outreach programs are available to a wider audience, the core of Amara Legal Center’s casework focuses on working with those suffering from the dual trauma of being both an asylum seeker and a victim of domestic violence, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Amara Legal Center assists victims in navigating the legal process while addressing issues of linguistic and legal access, service compatibility and accessibility, and cultural competence.
Achievements and Impact
As is evident from their statistics, the Amara Legal Center has a significant impact on families across the D.C. area. Since Amara began serving elders, family members, and guardians in 2009, it has served over 7,000 indigent individuals and families. The organization also has an impressive success rate of 91% for Affirmative Circuit Court cases and a 98% success rate for Guardianship cases in D.C. Each of Amara’s three regions boasts notable impact statistics as well; over its first five years serving Central Maryland, Amara helped 410 individuals and served 261 cases to completion, with a 99% affirmative rate in Guardianship cases, while it has served more than 2,200 individuals and had a 97% affirmative rate in Guardianship cases in Virginia. In the National Capital Region, Amara served 3,506 individuals in the same timeframe and achieved a 94% affirmative rate in Guardianship cases across the same period.
Clients have been beneficiaries of this work through an array of impact stories, such as that of Maria*, a 77-year-old Guatemalan woman with dementia who fell victim to a financial scam. After her money was stolen, an untrustworthy family member became her legal Guardian with whom Maria did not feel safe. Attorney Linda Buzolic obtained a court order to allow Maria to live with her children in her home country of Guatemala, moving there with her original Social Security and Retirement Benefits in tow. Maria later wrote, "I am grateful to Amara for enabling my to be with my family and live the rest of my life surrounded by people that love and cherish me." *Names substituted for anonymity.
Innovative Methods for Legal Support
The Amara Legal Center employs a multitude of innovative strategies and techniques to provide vital legal aid to low-income individuals in Washington DC and Maryland. These methods include collaborative legal clinics, strategic litigation, and unique volunteer and intern programs. The organization runs a number of free monthly legal clinics in collaboration with other service organizations and non-profits. By joining with community-based organizations that serve overlapping demographics, the Amara Legal Center is able to broaden its reach and better fulfill its mission. These clinics target four essential legal needs: employment, family, immigration , and wills. Amara Legal Center is committed to being a leading voice in the movement to improve the number and capacity of legal service providers. The organization regularly provides pro bono training, subject-specific technical assistance, and speaker opportunities to area legal services providers. It has also served as co-counsel in a number of class action suits designed to combat systemic injustices. Amara Legal Center also partners with many local law schools to provide internship programs for law students. These internship opportunities allow students to cultivate hands-on legal and career experience while providing valuable legal aid to Washington DC and Maryland residents.
Assisting Amara Legal Center
The Amara Legal Center welcomes individuals and organizations to support its mission through various channels, each dedicated to expanding access to justice for DC’s marginalized communities. Volunteers are a cornerstone of Amara Legal Center’s work, providing pro bono legal representation and other vital support to clients in need. Individuals interested in making a meaningful impact can sign up for volunteer opportunities through Amara Legal Center’s website.
Contributions to Amara Legal Center are essential to sustaining its vital programs and services. The organization accepts monetary donations that directly support its work. From general support to funding specific projects and initiatives, every contribution plays a role in advancing Amara Legal Center’s mission. The organization also accepts gifts of stock as another way to contribute to its work. For those seeking to make a more long-term impact, including the organization in their estate plans can provide critical support for future efforts.
Amara Legal Center encourages individuals and organizations to attend its special events, which are often designed to raise awareness of its mission and to generate support. Interested supporters can check the organization’s events calendar on its website to learn about upcoming opportunities to engage and make a difference.
The organization also invites those who share its vision of a just legal system that is accessible to all to help increase Amara Legal Center’s reach by spreading the word about its mission and work. By advocating for the organization within their communities and beyond, supporters can play an integral role in helping Amara Legal Center continue to serve DC’s most vulnerable populations.
Contact Details and Accessibility
Potential clients can reach the Amara Legal Center through their comprehensive email contact system ([email protected]). They can also reach the center by calling 202.750.8565, via fax at 202.318.2200, or by mail at 1625 K Street NW Suite 202 Washington, DC 20006.
The Amara Legal Center has been working diligently to make immigration law more accessible for victims and targeted groups. They have a dedicated section on their website with information for the December 18 DACA deadline. In addition , they provide a Spanish language translation of their entire website to help increase accessibility remedies for the immigrant community. Moreover, they provide a wealth of information in the form of Hot topics, Know your rights information and additional Publications and resources which are available in both English and Spanish.
Although some clients are referred to outside partners, the Amara Legal Center accepts both walk-in clients and referral clients. They also conduct legal intake interviews, and an attorney is available on a walk-in basis on Friday.