Chicago Appleseed has partnered with Network for Good to enable secure online donations supporting our ongoing work in social impact research and advocacy. Thank you for your support.

Please call Amanda Grant at 312-988-6599 for additional information.

March 2007 Donor Spotlight:  Gary Elden, Grippo & Elden LLC
“If you work in the legal system, then you understand how important it is to equalize resources,” stated Gary Elden.

A founding partner of Grippo & Elden LLC, he recently gave Chicago Appleseed a first: a gift of stock to begin an Internship Fund. While donating stock can have large tax advantages, Mr. Elden prefers to think of the gift as a smart way to donate to such a worthy cause. “The best way to equalize resources is through systemic reform, and Chicago Appleseed focuses on just that.”

One of the ways Chicago Appleseed provides equal access and representation is to stretch donor dollars as far as possible. We leverage individual donations with intern/volunteer time and talent for added value. By utilizing the skills of graduate and undergraduate students, we can make every unrestricted donation double or even triple in size. This benefits everyone involved: students are exposed to systemic reform and advocacy issues, Chicago Appleseed is able to continue its work on behalf of all area residents, and donors appreciate that their contributions go directly to the work of the organization.

“Gary Elden is truly one of Chicago Appleseed’s unsung heroes. He understands that individual donations are a crucial part of our financial stability, and he allows us to use the gift in ways that will best benefit the organization,” stated Executive Director Malcolm C. Rich.

February 2007 Donor Spotlight:  Patricia Bronte, Jenner & Block LLP
Attorney Patricia Bronte, a member of the Chicago Council of Lawyers’ Board of Governors, is on the phone with the Department of Justice. Her careful choice of words masks her exasperation with their policies—she is trying to get information for her client being held at Guantanamo, and the DOJ is not eager to cooperate. After asking several pointed questions in a tone that leaves no room for ambiguous responses, Ms. Bronte gets her answers. In that conversation, one can easily see why Ms. Bronte won a 2005 service award from Jenner & Block LLP.

Each year, Jenner & Block LLP awards the Albert E. Jenner Pro Bono Award to a limited number of associates and partners for their extraordinary public service work. In December 2006, Ms. Bronte was honored for her efforts on behalf of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. She chose Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice/Chicago Council of Lawyers as the recipient of the financial portion of the award: Chicago Appleseed and the Chicago Council of Lawyers are sister organizations dedicated to many of the same social equity and administration of justice issues. On their shared interests, Chicago Appleseed conducts research and issues reports which the Council then refers to when speaking out on critical issues and taking advocacy positions. “This partnership is the lifeblood of both organizations,” stated Ms. Bronte.

Ms. Bronte is an active member of the Council’s Civil Liberties Committee, and finds information there relevant to her current cases. “The Council’s advocacy work on closed circuit television to conduct bond hearings in Central Bond Court is extremely important.” Chicago Appleseed’s research and the Council’s willingness to speak out on important issues is what first attracted Ms. Bronte to the Chicago Council of Lawyers. “The Council is great. No one else is willing to take on these kinds of issues.”

Members of both organizations feel the same way about Patricia Bronte, and we thank her for her continued service and dedication to both the Council and Chicago Appleseed. In her words, “we are the Chicago Council and Chicago Appleseed, but we have things to offer nationwide.” We couldn’t agree more!

New Legacy Campaign Provides Flexibility for Donors
In fiscal year 2006, Chicago Appleseed will begin its legacy campaign, designed to allow donors to name our organization as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, will, or trust. Several donors have already chosen this method of supporting Chicago Appleseed.

Click here to view our planned giving brochure. For more information on our legacy campaign, call our office.

The following are just some of the projects and committees seeking assistance. Please contact Malcolm Rich (phone: 312-988-6552; email: malcolmrich@chicagoappleseed.org) for more information and meeting schedules.

Parental Involvement Under the No Child Left Behind Act

Since the publication of our report, Improving Parental Involvement in Illinois Under the No Child Left Behind Act, Chicago Appleseed staff and volunteers have been promoting and facilitating partnerships among schools, parents, and community organizations in schools throughout the area. We have exhibited our work in statewide conferences, and we work with the Governor's Parent Involvement Advisory Council. We are looking for volunteer lawyers to work with our staff to strategize and draft parental involvement partnership agreements and to then work with these partners to help resolve specific policy-related issues facing the particular school or school district.

Judicial Election Reform and Education

We are working on a proposal to establish a judicial performance commission in Illinois that will change the way judges and judicial candidates are evaluated and, possibly, how judges are retained on the bench. We are also developing a voter education program for the 2008 primary and retention election. We are looking for volunteers to work with our staff in utilizing research, public hearings, and collaboration with other organizations to develop an informed proposal for creating and utilizing a judicial performance commission.

Cook County Criminal Justice Project

The Chicago Appleseed Fund For Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers are undertaking a project that involves identifying problems and proposing meaningful solutions relating to lawyering, judicial performance, and court services involving the felony trial courtrooms at the Criminal Courts Building at 26th and California Avenue. The focus of this project includes the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, the Cook County Public Defender's Office, private defense practitioners, and judges. The project has the cooperation of key players within the criminal justice system. We have created a Community Advisory Committee that includes criminal defense practitioners, prosecutors, former judges, and law professors.

The project will soon be releasing a report and recommendations based on hundreds of interviews and careful analysis of the literature. Each set of recommendations will include a work group which will oversee the effort to implement these recommendations. We are looking for lawyers with criminal law experience to work with these workgroups and to provide guidance, research, and writing associated with the variety of means we will use to help implement our recommendations.

Publications of the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and the Chicago Council of Lawyers

Tenant-Landlord Handbook: Since the 1980s, the 150-page Tenant-Landlord Handbook has been the comprehensive source of information for both tenants and landlords in Chicago. It continues to be popular not only with tenants but with small building landlords as well. We are committed to produce another full edition of the Tenant-Landlord Handbook for 2008, and we intend to provide the Handbook on the web, free of charge.

We are looking for volunteers with housing law experience who will work on a task force with the mission of producing a new, web-based edition of the Tenant-Landlord Handbook.

Legal Services Directory of Free and Low Cost Legal Services: While this Directory has been copied many times since we first produced it in 1982, it continues to be a popular source of information for individuals and organizations looking for contact data and substantive information about nonprofit organizations, government agencies, law school clinics, and other groups that provide free or low cost legal services. A 2007 edition is about to be placed on our websites, but we would like to consider new ideas for the 2008 edition.

We are looking for volunteers who will work on a task force to review the 2007 edition of the Legal Services Directory and make suggestions for developing the 2008 edition.

Wage Assignment and Wage Deduction Order Pamphlet: We have been producing this pamphlet for decades and it is time to produce an updated version. We are looking for volunteers to work with staff in an effort to produce a 2008 edition.