Remarks from the Executive Director: Charleston Legal Access 10th Anniversary Address
Good evening, and thank you all for attending tonight.
I want to begin by thanking everyone who helped make this celebration possible: our many sponsors, our Board of Directors (especially the Planning Committee) our volunteers, and, of course, our small but mighty CLA team:
Mary Vosburgh, Dorothy Blackwelder, Jennie Montenotte, Stephen Blevins, Jill Bridges, Brenda Hernandez, and Elise Howle.
I also want to recognize two others who are part of CLA’s staff, two people who pulled off some minor miracles to make tonight happen: Rachael Hochberg and Madison Chelberg.
Every single day, individuals in our community face a moment that could change everything. An eviction notice on their door. A courtroom they do not understand. A justice system that feels impossible to navigate.
In those moments, justice can feel out of reach.
For some, justice is simply a term heard in a courtroom or on television shows like Law & Order. But for the people we serve at Charleston Legal Access, justice is something much more personal. It is the ability to stay in their home. It is the chance to keep their family safe. It is the freedom to build a future without fear.
Tonight, I want to discuss something powerful: justice doesn’t just happen in courtrooms. It happens when we protect what matters most.
And it happens because of people like you, people who believe that fairness should not depend on the size of someone's paycheck.
As you will soon see in our 10th Anniversary video presentation, CLA has an incredible history of providing quality legal services to our friends and neighbors, particularly those who are working two or three jobs and still find themselves at risk of falling into poverty because of a single unexpected expense.
Maybe it’s a trip to the emergency room to repair a child’s broken leg, or traffic accident caused by an inattentive driver.
Whatever it is, the people who need our services are the very foundation of our society. They are our bus drivers. They are the cashiers at our grocery stores. They are the teachers and firefighters who chose public service as a higher calling but still struggle to pay every bill while finding safe and affordable housing.
If you are here, you likely already believe that access to justice in America is a right, not a privilege.
You also understand that while that is a lofty ideal, we are still far from achieving that goal for many Americans.
Charleston Legal Access exists to close the so-called “justice gap,” which is the disparity between those who desperately need legal help and those who actually receive it.
Which brings me to why I feel so passionately about the work we do at CLA, and why I feel so honored to follow in the footsteps of incredible leaders like Sally Newman, Adair Boroughs, and Lana Kleiman.
Over the past several decades, I have worked as a public defender, a criminal justice reform advocate, and a nonprofit leader, all with a focus on expanding access to justice across South Carolina. My efforts have largely focused on system-impacted people, like those in our prisons and jails, as well as underserved communities more broadly. Underlying that work has been my deep-seated belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity, and that each of us deserves a second chance in life.
Those beliefs stem in part from growing up with a father who came to the United States from India in pursuit of higher education.
He arrived with one suitcase, $100 in his pocket, and dreams of living in a caste-less society where everyone had the opportunity to pursue their dreams. He chose America because, in the history books he read and the news stories he followed, this was a nation built on the ideal that all people are created equal.
My father instilled in me the belief that the beauty of the American ideal is not rooted solely in individual achievement. It is also found in our sense of community and shared purpose. It is found in a society that seeks to help those with the least because, ultimately, a rising tide lifts all boats. These are the values that helped create our interstate highway system, first-rate universities, the internet, and an agricultural economy that helped make us the breadbasket of the world.
Like many of you, I believe a society should be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members.
These are the same ideals that Sally Newman cherished when she founded Charleston Legal Access in 2016.
Her spirit continues to guide our work.
Recently, one of our immigration attorneys helped a man who had been detained following a traffic violation. He was facing uncertainty and possible separation from his wife and six children. Through advocacy and legal support, our attorney secured a bond that allowed him to be released from detention and return home to his family. Today, he can continue fighting his case while working full-time and putting food on the table for those he loves.
Sally’s spirit was also present in a recent landlord-tenant dispute involving a single mother raising a child with special needs.
Through lengthy negotiations, our housing attorney worked out a payment plan that allowed the family to remain in their home and stay in the neighborhood where the child was receiving individualized support through her school.
Hope is built case by case.
We help people build a bridge from crisis to stability with one simple truth in mind: when people have access to legal help, their lives often change for the better.
Families stay together. Homes are preserved. Futures are secured.
CLA has helped so many people over the past ten years because of incredible staff, dedicated leadership, amazing board members and volunteers, and, most importantly, the support of people like you who stand behind this work.
Even so, the need for our services remains great. Far too many people continue to face legal challenges without the help they deserve.
But what gives me hope, and what should give all of us hope, is that we know what works. We know that when we invest in legal support, we protect what matters most. And when we protect what matters most, we do more than change individual lives; we strengthen our entire community.
Thank you for your continued support of Charleston Legal Access.
I am excited to work alongside all of you as we usher in CLA’s next chapter.
With gratitude,
Shirene Hansotia
