Beyond Legal Aid Blog
Community Members’ Stories
Marlon is a Community Member who came to the U.S. in 2024. At the border, he was forcibly fastened with an ankle monitor. Beyond this humiliating act, the device was burdensome: it was buckled too tight, which caused him great amounts of pain and, ultimately, made it difficult to walk.
Rebeca is a Spanish-speaking community member that first came to Beyond in March 2021 as a referral through community partner, Mano a Mano Family Resource Center. At that time, she worried her legal team would not be able to communicate with her.
Americans have a right to safe, adequate housing, but for many Chicagoans, that right is something they have to fight for. Jae knew this reality all too well.
Norma is a new community member in Chicago. A mother hoping to secure fundamental rights for her and her family, she sought out immigration support from one of Beyond’s community partners, Enlace Chicago.
"I need people to know that l'm a successful business owner now. From having a record to owning a successful business,' ," said community member Daniel.
"I took a stand and I'm proud of myself," said community member Joe*, after his case came to a close earlier this year. Joe came to Beyond through community partner, Blocks Together, in December 2022.
It's often easy to overlook certain privileges, but community member, Pablo, will always be grateful for the privilege of US citizenship.
Ina is a community member that worked with Beyond Legal Aid in 2023 through our partnership with Jane Addams Senior Caucus, but that is not when her story begins. Ina is an Ashkenazi Jewish woman, which puts her at a significantly higher risk of getting breast cancer.
There are many barriers to receiving decent legal services, and unfortunately, money is one of them. Community member, Michelle, chose to fight her custody battle without representation for this reason. However, after a few months, she felt the case remained stagnant; that's when she was referred to Beyond Legal Aid by a friend.
When people think of slumlords, they tend to think of landlords with multiple large properties. However, in Chicago, we've seen that there are small landlords that you have to be wary of, as well. Many small landlords don't know the eviction process, or they prey on tenants that don't know their rights. Luckily, community member Jorge knew his.
Financial stress is something many people experience in their life, and it frequently puts strain on relationships. Unfortunately, community member, Juan, experienced this first-hand. He came to the legal clinic at our community partner, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, in 2018 to receive assistance in collecting unpaid wages.
Some of our cases aren't always a "success" in the traditional sense, but that doesn't mean those stories shouldn't be told. Mr. G is a community member who came to Beyond back when we were still called Community Activism Law Alliance (CALA).
Community Partners’ Stories
Happy #HispanicHeritageMonth! To kick off the celebrations, we are proud to spotlight our community partner, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos (CTU).
CTU is a grassroots organization based on the Southeast Side of Chicago that builds collective power with immigrant and low-wage workers.
Happy #InternationalDayOfPeace! To celebrate this important cause, we are proud to spotlight one of our key community partners, Increase The Peace (ITP). ITP is a youth-led, grassroots organization based on Chicago's Southwest Side. ITP focuses on building youth leadership, preventing violence, and strengthening community power through organizing, civic engagement, and mentorship.
While Illinois continues to introduce policies to better protect tenants, the housing crisis remains far from resolved. The lack of affordable, available housing still affects renters across the state in serious and lasting ways.
At this critical moment for tenant rights and protections across Illinois, bringing on a new partnership is essential to strengthening Beyond's capacity, expanding our reach, and ensuring that tenants have the support they need to win lasting victories.
Happy #DisabilityIndependenceDay! To celebrate, we are putting the spotlight on our community partner, Jane Addams Senior Caucus (JASC). JASC is a power building 501c3 that supports the leadership of Chicago-area seniors and tenant families to transform their housing and communities.
This #PrideMonth, we’re proud to spotlight our community partner, OCAD Chicago. Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD) is an undocumented-led group that organizes against deportations, detention, criminalization, and incarceration of Black, brown, and immigrant communities in Chicago and beyond.
Asylum protections for Community Members (CMs) are vital now more than ever, especially in light of recent policy shifts and heightened anti-immigrant rhetoric from the current administration. If you missed the first two installments of our asylum series, check them out here. Learn about the historical context of asylum in the United States and gain insight into how immigration attorneys navigate these complex cases.
To close off May, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate our Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Community Members. May is AANHPI Heritage month and to celebrate, we are putting the spotlight on our Community Partner (CP) Vietnamese Association of Illinois (VAI).
Happy #MayDay! To celebrate, we are putting the spotlight on our community partner, Arise Chicago. Arise is a worker power organization that organizes low-paid immigrant workers and their faith community allies to take power in workplaces and win public policy changes that uplift all workers.
Today we are spotlighting one of our community partners, Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU), for #FairHousingMonth. ATU is a tenant-led volunteer collective based in Albany Park
April is #ArabAmericanHeritageMonth, and to celebrate we wanted to spotlight Arab American Action Network (AAAN), one of Beyond’s community partners. AAAN is a nonprofit organization that strives to strengthen the Arab community in the Chicago area. AAAN does this by building community members’ capacity to be active agents for positive social change.
Today is National Farm Workers Day! This holiday commemorates labor activist and civil rights icon Cesar Chavez, whose fight to better the lives of the nation's farmworkers helped improve the inhumane working conditions of the vital, but often overlooked industry.
In honor of Women’s History Month, we wanted to put the spotlight on another Community Partner, Revolution Workshop (RW)! RW is a nonprofit whose goal is to create pathways in the construction industry for Black and Brown Community Members.
To celebrate #InternationalWomensDay, we are spotlighting one of our Community Partners, Healing to Action (HTA). HTA is ending gender-based violence by building the leadership and collective power of the communities who are most impacted, transforming the narrative of survivors from vulnerable “victims” to powerful leaders in the movement to end gender-based violence.
Beyond is thrilled to celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth with community partner, SWOP Chicago. Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP Chicago) is a Black-led grassroots organization dedicated to providing direct aid and advocacy to current and former sex workers in the Chicagoland area.
With many of our community members currently living in fear, we thought there would be no better time than the present to expand our reach. Beyond Legal Aid is proud to announce that we have launched a new community partnership.
Beyond Legal Aid is thrilled to announce the launch of our newest partnership with Chicago Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (CIWOC) in this new year! CIWOC is Beyond's 9th activism partner, bringing an exciting addition to our 22 total partnerships!
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Arab American Heritage Month Community Partner Spotlight
April is #ArabAmericanHeritageMonth, and to celebrate we wanted to spotlight Arab American Action Network (AAAN), one of Beyond’s community partners. AAAN is a nonprofit organization that strives to strengthen the Arab community in the Chicago area. AAAN does this by building community members’ capacity to be active agents for positive social change.