spotlight

At age 57, Cassandra has survived an HIV diagnosis, a painful divorce, and assuming custody of her five-year-old granddaughter. But as strong as she is, the debts she faced after her marriage ended threatened to overwhelm her. After ALRP helped her file for divorce a few years ago, she turned to ALRP once again to ask about the possibility of declaring bankruptcy.

Years ago, when his close friend Paul died of AIDS, Jim Wood decided to do what he could to make a difference in the AIDS epidemic. Since then, Jim has dedicated a good deal of his personal and professional time to serving people living with HIV/AIDS. He served as a pro bono Panel attorney for ALRP clients for many years before joining the ALRP Board in 2010 and becoming Co-Chair in 2012.

By the time ALRP client Jose called us for legal help, he was afraid to leave his apartment. Having been bullied for being gay when he was younger, Jose now faced a frightful bully as a neighbor. Only this time, the bully was wielding the law as her club. Jose’s relationship with his once cordial neighbor deteriorated after she began making disparaging remarks about the HIV+ community.

Emily Nugent, ALRP’s Attorney of the Year, started down the path to becoming a Panel attorney during a legal internship at the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C. “I represented three clients with advanced AIDS, who were all experiencing discrimination at work,” she said. “I thought, ‘Didn’t everybody see the movie Philadelphia? Don’t we all understand that this isn’t right?’”