What's new—Expanding our presence in Queens
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A print newsletter to announce inMotion's expanded presence in Queens, NY. The issue features stories about the women served and the staff that work at the organization's newly opened office located at the Family Justice Center in Kew Gardens.
After the publication of this print newsletter, the organization was honored with a site visit from a group of trustees from the New York State Interest on Lawyer Account Fund (IOLA). As a result, The Fund substantially increased the organization's annual grant award.
Due to budget constraints, after the publication of this direct mail piece, the organization transitioned to an electronic-only newsletter.
Expanding our presence in Queens
On-site partner at the New York City Family Justice Center
As part of a citywide coalition to build an ever-stronger community of support for victims of domestic violence, inMotion has joined forces with the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence as an on-site partner at the newly constructed New York City Family Justice Center in Kew Gardens, Queens
Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomes visitors to the New York City Family Justice Center ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 15. Front left: Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, District Attorney Richard Brown. Back left: Cindy Dyer, director, Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice; Joe and Ali Torre, Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation; and Commissioner Yolanda Jimenez, Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence.
The New York City Family Justice Center opened its doors in Queens on July 21. Within the first week, women from Bangladesh, Ecuador, Guyana, India, the Philippines, Poland and Romania received on-the-spot access to the Center’s free legal and social services.
“Our first client, Maimun, a young mother from Guyana, accomplished in one afternoon what might have otherwise taken weeks,” shares Patricia Telfort, inMotion legal services coordinator. “In just one visit, Maimun received legal advice from inMotion (made possible by being able to access a copy of her criminal order of protection from the District Attorney’s on-site office) and developed a safety plan with a Safe Horizon counselor.”
“Our City has made investigating, prosecuting and preventing all domestic violence crimes a top
priority,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Domestic violence creates financial, emotional and, at times, physical scars. By making it as easy as possible for victims and their families to access services, many New Yorkers are given the opportunity to start over again.”
Located near a primary public transportation hub in Kew Gardens, the Center is easily accessible and only a few short steps away from the doors of the Queens County Criminal and Integrated Domestic Violence Courts. InMotion’s office at the Center is open Monday–Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
One-stop service center for victims of domestic violence
In only one visit, it is now possible for a Queens domestic violence survivor to meet with law enforcement, petition for an order of protection, receive legal advice about custody and child support, speak with a trained counselor, receive assistance in accessing emergency shelter, and apply for housing or financial assistance—all while their children play safely in the next room.
No appointments are required to walk into the Center. When a domestic violence survivor arrives, they are immediately paired with a personal advocate who speaks their native language (or who can access the services of an interpreter through Language Line Services, a company that provides immediate, by-phone interpretation in 170 languages). The advocate assesses their situation, shares information about the diverse resources available at the Center and directs them to the services they need. The advocate also arranges appointments on their behalf with on-site service providers—such as inMotion—and provides ongoing case management support as they move forward to rebuild their life.
Protecting Queens abuse victims
As an on-site partner at the Center, inMotion will take on some of its most complex civil cases, providing free legal assistance with matrimonial, family and immigration matters. Our services include:
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Child support, spousal support, child custody, child visitation and orders of protection in the Queens County Family and Integrated Domestic Violence Courts
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Uncontested and contested divorces in Queens County Supreme Court
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Violence Against Women Act self-petitions and battered spouse waivers, where a client seeks to obtain legal immigration status without the assistance of her abusive spouse or former spouse
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Social work support services including safety planning, crisis management, assistance obtaining emergency shelter or housing, access to public benefits and counseling
All women who come to inMotion through the Center will be screened for placement with a pro bono attorney or an on-site litigation extern from one of our participating Corporate Partner law firms. If a client cannot be given a volunteer attorney, our staff will provide free legal advice and prepare the necessary court papers so that she can file her own motion in court. We will also offer referrals to sister legal services providers who may be able to take on her case.
About the New York City Family Justice Center Initiative
The grand opening! Pictured left to right: Catherine Douglass, Esq., inMotion executive director; Brad Eric Scheler, Esq., chair, board of directors; Alison Napack Kallman, Esq., board member; Heidi Lee Henderson, Esq., director, legal and social services; and Myron Trepper, senior counsel, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
Led by the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, the New York City Family Justice Center Initiative brings together domestic violence prosecutors and service providers in one centralized location so that abuse survivors are able to access the support they need more effectively and efficiently.
All services are free and available regardless of sex, age, nationality or sexual orientation. Survivors are able to access services in their native language, while their children receive child care from professionally trained staff.
The New York City Family Justice Center in Kew Gardens is the second domestic violence crisis center to open in the City. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg launched the first Center in downtown Brooklyn in July, 2005. Since that time, the Brooklyn Center has served over 11,000 clients and averages 1,000 client visits per month. InMotion recently joined the Brooklyn Center as an off-site referral partner in June, 2008.
Based on the Brooklyn Center’s success, the City has committed to opening additional centers. Following Queens, a Bronx center is expected to open by the end of 2009.
On-site partners
New York City Family Justice Center, Queens
“Our City and nonprofit partners at the Queens Family Justice Center will represent the diverse needs of our clients. Domestic violence victims can take comfort in knowing that, regardless of their primary language or immigration status, they will be able to receive the immediate assistance they need to gain safety and services for themselves and their children.”
Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence
Commissioner Yolanda B. Jimenez
Domestic Violence Bureau
Nonprofit service providers
Barrier Free Living, Inc.
inMotion, Inc.
Jewish Association for Services for the Aged
Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation
Korean American Family Services Center
Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty
Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence
Intervention Program
New York Asian Women’s Center
Queens Legal Services Corporation
Safe Horizon
Sanctuary for Families
Urban Justice Center
City and government agencies
The City University of New York
Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence
New York City Department for the Aging
New York City Department of Information, Technology
and Telecommunications
New York City Department of Probation
New York City Police Department
Office of the Queens County District Attorney
The New York City Family Justice Center in Queens is an initiative of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence.
Multi-lingual services available at the Queens Family Justice Center
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Prosecution of domestic violence crimes
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Civil legal consultations
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Direct representation for Family Court, matrimonial, housing, and immigration
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Assistance filing police and probation reports
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Court accompaniment
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Interpretation services
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On-site child care and children’s activities
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Safety planning and emergency assistance
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Shelter and housing assistance
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Counseling and support groups
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Services for the elderly and disabled
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Public benefits assistance
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Health care assistance
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Parenting skills training
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English as a Second Language classes
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Self-sufficiency services
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Voluntary interfaith spiritual support
OUR QUEENS ADDRESS
at the Family Justice Center
inMotion, Inc.
New York City Family Justice Center, Queens
126-02 82nd Avenue
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
Tel 718.575.4500. Fax 718.268.3120
The need in Queens
for free legal services is immense
Our extensive experience in the Bronx has taught us how important it is to reach abused and culturally isolated women in the communities where they live. We have witnessed first-hand the extraordinary social, emotional and financial challenges that immigrant domestic violence victims face when they try to report abuse or access help.
Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the entire U.S.
Since 1990, one million new immigrants have made Queens their home—46% of the people who live in Queens were born in a foreign country—and collectively they speak more than 160 languages. In this borough, with one of the nation’s most rapidly growing immigrant populations, the potential for cultural isolation is tremendous.
Legal services agencies are scarce
In a county of over 2.2 million people, only nine Queens-based legal services lawyers and legal assistants serve low-income clients who need matrimonial and family law assistance.
The numbers speak for themselves
Geographic barriers
Covering 109 square miles, Queens is the largest of New York City’s boroughs. Domestic violence advocates have long recognized one of the biggest hurdles to survivors seeking help is the physical distance which often separates them from service providers, law enforcement centers and our City’s courts.
45,877 incidents of domestic violence were reported in Queens last year. Twenty-six percent of all domestic homicides in the City of New York were reported in Queens County. Citywide the police responded to 229,354* domestic violence incidents last year; averaging over 600 incidents per day. In addition, the NYPD’s Domestic Violence Unit conducted 76,602* home visits in 2007, a ninety-eight percent increase since 2002.
* Source: Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence Fact Sheet.
Fried Frank Fellowship
Corporate practice meets public service
For the past year, Erin Abrams, Esq., a second-year litigation associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, has worked full-time with inMotion as our Fried Frank Fellow.
Erin's ardent legal advocacy and forceful litigation skills have brought freedom, safety and financial security to 28 indigent women and their children—most of whom are victims of domestic violence—in highly contested divorces and family law cases. We would like to share just two of Erin’s hard fought victories on behalf of inMotion clients living in Queens.
Battered mother and abused infant find safety and financial independence
After abusing Malaya,* a 28-year-old immigrant mother from the Philippines, and their infant daughter, Malaya’s husband forcibly threw his wife and daughter out of their family home. Malaya recounts, “Gabat did not want a daughter—he wanted a son. Eight days after I gave birth, he beat me with his fists until I was black and blue. Our daughter was in the room and crying. He would not let me go to her. In a rage he screamed, ‘Shut-up! Shut-up! You are a bitch just like your mother,’ and shook our baby daughter violently.”
After fleeing with her daughter to her parent’s small apartment in Queens, Malaya went to Family Court to seek an order of protection, legal custody of her daughter and an order of child support.
Malaya contacted inMotion when her husband served her with divorce papers. Erin immediately took on the divorce and Family Court matters and helped Malaya file an answer to her husband’s divorce complaint in Queens Supreme Court. The divorce action soon became hotly contested, as complex issues of equitable distribution arose, including appraising the marital residence and the value of the husband’s pension.
In May of 2008, Erin settled the divorce case for Malaya on extremely favorable terms. As a result of Erin’s forceful advocacy, Gabat was required to buy out Malaya’s share of their co-op and distribute her legal share of his pension on an accelerated schedule. Malaya was also allowed to reclaim the property that she left in the marital residence when she fled. In addition, Erin helped Malaya secure an order of protection, custody of
her daughter and statutory child support. Gabat currently has only supervised visitation with the child, and a trial in ACS’s child abuse case is scheduled for the fall. The outcome of this trial will determine the final visitation and custody issues.
“InMotion gave me Erin—and she in turn gave me the courage to stand up to my ex-husband and fight to protect my daughter,” states Malaya. “We are safe now and don’t have to be afraid.”
Mail-order bride escapes violent marriage
Elena* met her future husband, Georgios, on a website for mail-order brides while she lived in Russia. Two months after their first online encounter, Georgios flew Elena to the United States and, after a brief courtship, they married. Elena’s honeymoon soon turned into a violent nightmare.
Georgios quickly took control of Elena’s life. He became increasingly abusive—first verbally, and then physically. Georgios treated her like a servant and demanded that she call him ‘sir.’ He often flew into uncontrollable rages; severe physical and sexual abuse became a daily torment.
During their six-month marriage, Elena fled several times but, without family or money, she was persuaded to return by her husband’s promises to change. But sadly, nothing changed. Georgios continued to abuse and rape Elena. After a particularly severe incident where her husband threatened to kill her and attempted to break her arms, Elena called the police. Georgios was arrested and charged with criminal assault and harassment. Elena fled to a domestic violence shelter. When her husband filed for divorce a month later, Elena hired a private attorney to answer her husband’s complaint with the last of her savings, but quickly ran out of money. She then turned to inMotion for help, and Erin took on her case.
As soon as Erin began representing Elena, the order of protection petition, criminal case and divorce action were consolidated in Queens County Integrated Domestic Violence Court. During the course of the family offense proceedings, Elena’s husband defaulted. A warrant was issued for his arrest, but he did not appear in court. Elena bravely testified at the inquest about the violence she had suffered and the judge granted Elena an order of protection for five years—the longest the law allows. Erin finalized Elena’s divorce at the inquest and obtained a default judgment against Elena’s husband which required him to pay spousal maintenance of $1,000/month for six months and awarded all marital possessions to Elena.
Elena was ecstatic with the outcome of her cases. Although there is still a warrant out for her ex-husband’s arrest, she feels safe knowing that she has a five-year order of protection. Elena spoke recently at an inMotion event and shared, “When I came to the United States, I believed that I would be happy in this country, and I found out that people here care about others and help you if you ask for help. I was all alone, no friends or family, but I found my family in inMotion. Erin Abrams was the first person who helped me with my divorce case. She was so attentive to my problems. Since I found Erin through inMotion, things have been getting better and better every day. Thank you, Erin. You’re such a wonderful person and God bless you for all the work that you do for women in need like me.”
* Client names have been changed to protect their identities.
Meet our Queens staff
Join us in welcoming our New York City Family Justice Center staff to their new digs in Kew Gardens! InMotion is one of the only on-site legal services providers to debut at the Center with a full-time, multi-lingual staff to serve women living in Queens. Fluencies in our new office include Creole, French, Italian and Spanish.
Gabriella F. Richman, Esq.
Supervising attorney—Queens
“As a resident of Queens, I am thrilled to be involved in this wonderful collaborative endeavor, bringing much-needed services to the women of my community. This is an exciting place for me to be at this point in my career.”
Bringing over 15 years of family and matrimonial legal expertise to our Queens office, Gabriella has spent most of her professional life advocating for the poor and making women’s voices heard in our
City’s courts. Gabriella recently returned to inMotion as senior staff attorney, and shortly thereafter, stepped into the role of supervising attorney.
In addition to supervising our Queens staff and a full-time litigation extern, Gabriella trains and mentors inMotion pro bono attorneys handling complex matrimonial and family law matters on behalf of inMotion’s clients. She also provides free legal advice and brief services to Center clients who need to access the courts immediately, when there is not time to recruit a volunteer lawyer.
Gabriella first joined inMotion’s staff in 2003 as a staff attorney in our Bronx office. Missing the courtroom, she left inMotion in 2005 for an appointment to the Second Department Law Guardian Appeals Panel to represent indigent individuals. During this time, Gabriella also accepted a part-time position as the director of matrimonial programs at the City Bar Justice Center of the New York City Bar Association and concurrently served as a consultant to the Incarcerated Mothers Law Project of Volunteers of Legal Services.
Patricia Telfort
Legal services coordinator
“The Family Justice Center in Queens will be a place of great comfort and hope for abuse victims. I am excited to collaborate with so many on-site organizations to empower families to move forward to safer and more secure lives.”
Patricia came to inMotion last fall to complete the final leg of her master’s degree at Columbia University School of Social Work. As a social work intern, Patricia worked closely with many of inMotion’s
most vulnerable clients, connecting them to critical support services and helping them navigate the complex bureaucracy of public benefits. Prior to her field placement at inMotion, Patricia interned at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx where she provided extensive social work support services to families dealing with major health crises. After her graduation in May, we welcomed Patricia to our Queens staff.
As legal services coordinator, Patricia screens and provides information to clients, conducts intake, assists in recruiting new volunteers, coordinates Queens-based CLE trainings and links volunteer attorneys with women seeking legal representation. In addition, Patricia assists with legal screening for the Family Justice Center and makes referrals to other service providers at the Center.
Letter from the executive director
by Catherine J. Douglass, Esq.
“You gave me hope where before there was none.”
—the words of a grateful inMotion client
According to the latest Presidential election polls, the faltering national economy now leads the list of concerns of most Americans. How our elected leaders address so many critical national issues—health care, education, energy, jobs—in the coming months and years directly affects each of us and our families. No one has more at stake than inMotion’s clients.
Most of us worry about the future opportunities our children and grandchildren will inherit. But we don’t have to worry that we won’t have enough money to make it through the month, the week, tomorrow—to buy food and medicine, to pay the rent and utilities. Nor do we worry about whether we’ll have a safe home to return to at the end of the day. These are the very immediate worries of the women who reach out to inMotion for help.
More than 14.1 million women in America are poor—that’s about one in eight. Women living in New York State are even more likely to live in poverty than their national counterparts. Our state, in fact, has the worst income gap between rich and poor in the nation.*
All of our clients live in poverty. Their fears for themselves and their children are very immediate and very real. They cannot wait for long-term solutions. Resourceful and courageous, they find us—through friends or colleagues, the police, the courts, or on the web. And when they do, we link them with pro bono lawyers and supportive social services.
Most of our clients gain significant financial benefits in their court cases: child support payments, health insurance coverage, the right to keep affordable housing, valuable pension rights, fair division of marital debts. Talented and caring lawyers make the dfference.
Together, we are giving thousands of women the chance to begin to live without fear. We at inMotion are determined not to let concerns of the uncertain financial future of our country limit our ability to provide increased economic security to women living in poverty in our community. Unfortunately, these same economic challenges mean that many institutions that support our work will be cutting back in the coming year.
So, donations from individuals like you are now more critical than ever. You have the opportunity to help the women we serve survive the difficult year ahead. Please give as generously as you can.
Catherine J. Douglass
Executive Director
Annual Photography Auction & Benefit
$2.4 million raised!
What a night! On April 2, more than 1,100 inMotion friends and supporters packed the Waldorf=Astoria to celebrate our 15th year of service to New York City women and children. Thanks to their extraordinary generosity, the event raised a record $2.4 million.
The evening honored Jeffrey H. Aronson, managing principal at Centerbridge Partners, L.P., for his lifetime commitment to justice for all individuals.
Jeff was joined by honorary co-chairs Michael Embler, Franklin Mutual Advisers; Mark T. Gallogly, Centerbridge Partners, L.P.; Marc Lasry, Avenue Capital Group; Henry S. Miller, Miller, Buckfire & Co., LLC; and James E. Millstein, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC. Richard Bilotti, GSO Capital Partners LP; and Jean E. Hanson, Esq., Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, served as benefit co-chairs.
For the 13th straight year, Denise Bethel of Sotheby’s returned to the podium to lead our live auction. We give heartfelt thanks to the many artists, collectors and gallerists who donated works of art to our live and silent auctions. We are grateful to Photography Auction co-chairs Elisabeth Biondi, The New Yorker, and Cathy M. Kaplan, Sidley Austin LLP, and committee members Nailya Alexander, Bonni Benrubi, Howard Greenberg, Edwynn Houk, Ariel Meyerowitz, Yossi Milo, Julie Saul, and Dorsey Waxter, for their inspired work assembling this year’s auction collection. A special thanks as well to the 180 volunteers whose behind-the-scenes coordination efforts made the evening such a resounding success.
Save the date!
We hope to see you on Tuesday, April 21 at the Waldorf=Astoria next year.
For more information, contact rsvp@inmotiononline.org or call 646.442.1185.
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Establishes new litigation externship to serve low-income women living in Queens
This summer, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP became our fourth Corporate Partner law firm to establish a litigation externship at inMotion. On a four-month rotating basis, the firm will lend a highly committed associate to work full-time at our Queens office at the New York City Family Justice Center.
“I am excited to join the inMotion team at the Queens Family Justice Center and eager to begin what will no doubt be a challenging and rewarding experience providing legal services to those most in need.”
Lisa will focus on our most urgent and complex family and matrimonial cases, providing direct legal representation to inMotion clients in Queens County Family, Supreme and Integrated Domestic Violence Courts.
We are excited to welcome Lisa Dennis Bentley, Esq., a fifth-year litigation associate, as the firm’s first inMotion extern.
About our litigation externship program
Our externships offer law firms the opportunity to nurture their most promising litigation associates while increasing their overall pro bono hours and enhancing the firm’s profile in the legal and corporate community.
Under the supervision of our experienced legal staff, litigation externs provide direct legal representation to women who contact inMotion with emergency cases presenting significant and compelling challenges—often appearing in court with new clients with less than 24-hours notice. InMotion externs manage 20–25 cases and average at least three court appearances a week in the City’s courts.
Our extern program offers associates the unique opportunity to take the lead on important contested matters and to interact with judges and opposing counsel early in their litigation careers by appearing regularly in court to advocate on behalf of New York City’s most vulnerable families.
For more information about our litigation externship program, call 646.442.1172 or email externprogram@inmotiononline.org.
Our congratulations to Milbank!
NYSBA President’s Pro Bono Service Award
We are proud to have supported the nomination of our long-standing Corporate Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, to receive the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) President’s Pro Bono Service Award for a large law firm.
On May 1, the NYSBA recognized Milbank’s outstanding commitment to improving the greater public good through pro bono service at its 18th annual award ceremony on Law Day in Albany, New York.
Joseph S. Genova, Esq., Milbank partner and director of public service, pictured with The Honorable Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York, at Law Day in Albany, NY.
“We are proud of this recognition by the New York State Bar Association,” states Joseph Genova, the firm’s director of public service. By teaming with dedicated experts like the staff of inMotion, our lawyers have the chance to live the motto of equal justice under law by rendering much needed service to some of the most vulnerable clients unable to afford counsel.”
Nurturing a strong culture of pro bono service
As a firm, Milbank has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to pro bono work. Each year, attorneys working in its domestic offices are required to dedicate at least 20 hours to pro bono matters. Last year, 90% of the lawyers based in New York City devoted their time to pro bono matters, providing 27,290 hours of pro bono service, with an average of 87 donated hours per attorney.
Milbank associate Alyssa A. Rower, Esq., winner of an inMotion Commitment to Justice Award.
Deep commitment to NYC women and children
InMotion and the families we serve have benefited greatly from Milbank’s unwavering commitment to public service. Milbank has been actively involved in inMotion’s work since 1995. This year alone, 47 lawyers from the firm (including seven partners, 13 summer associates and seven legal assistants) donated 1,621 hours to represent 41 clients in inMotion matters.
With the full support of the firm, Alyssa’s skillful and dedicated advocacy resulted in a child support allocation which not only maximized the family’s income but also retained Medicaid eligibility for her client’s autistic son and health care for the entire family. Thanks to Alyssa’s dedication, skillful negotiation and advocacy, her client retained custody of her children and obtained a speedy and favorable decision in a visitation matter.
We honored Milbank associate Alyssa A. Rower, Esq. at our Commitment to Justice Awards ceremony in February for her representation of a Latina mother of two children, one autistic.
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PRINT: Content strategy and copywriting. Researched case outcomes and interviewed clients, volunteers and staff to develop feature stories. Art directed newsletter and managed print design consultant. Project-managed creative production, assets, and internal sign-offs. Coordinated print and direct mail vendors.
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DIGITAL: Electronic design; cross-platform build-out; website administration and content management. Set up, tested, and executed email blasts; reported on results.