29 November 2012

Salvation Army Pro Bono Program Shut Down

I am very sorry to report that the Salvation Army's pro bono legal advice program has shut down. Although I understand that self-sufficient regional clinics may be maintained, the clinics run out of the program's central Vancouver office at Belkin House, such as the clinics at the Robson Square Provincial Court registry and the Caring Place in Maple Ridge, are terminated effective immediately. This is a really disappointing development; the program was run very efficiently and served thousands of people, and I've been volunteering with the program since 2002.

This would seem to leave Access Pro Bono as the last independent provider of full-service legal clinics in the province. (Help can also be had from the UVic and UBC legal advice programs, and from the countless community-based programs run by organizations like the Battered Women's Support Services and the YWCA.) Lawyers volunteering with the Salvation Army program should sign up with Access Pro Bono's summary legal advice program as soon as possible.