LSHV Hosts 3rd Annual Dutchess Partners in Justice Reception

POUGHKEEPSIE –  Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (“LSHV”) held its 3rd Annual Dutchess Partners in Justice Reception at Locust Grove Estate. During the program, a fundraiser to support LSHV’s work in Dutchess County, Timmian Massie, Senior Vice President for Marketing, Public Affairs and Government Relations at Health Quest was honored as “Champion of Justice.” The law firm Iseman, Cunningham, Riester & Hyde LLP was recognized as “Advocate for Justice.”

Two hundred and twenty-five people attended the event and enjoyed a networking reception catered by The Chocolate Mousse, which was followed by remarks about LSHV’s services by the organization’s CEO, Barbara Finkelstein, Esq., Board Member and Co-Chair of the Development Committee Josh Kimerling, Esq., who is the Managing Partner at Cuddy & Feder LLP, Elizabeth Corwin, Esq., an LSHV Staff Attorney for Domestic Violence Services, and her client Amy Goodman. The event was a success, raising significantly more funds than last year’s program.

Amy Goodman, inspired attendees by sharing her story of being helped by LSHV to leave an abusive relationship and to gain custody of her sons. She called herself “the face of Legal Services of the Hudson Valley’s clients – your neighbor, your friend, your co-worker, your sister, your daughter,” and asked the audience to support LSHV’s work for the sake of others like her who have nowhere else to turn when they face life-altering crises like domestic violence, loss of a home to eviction or foreclosure, or the loss of subsistence income. She credited LSHV Staff Attorney for Domestic Violence Services, Elizabeth Corwin’s, work with giving her and her children the second start in life she thought she would never see.

“Legal Services of the Hudson Valley is the only provider of comprehensive, free civil legal services in our region. Our attorneys, paralegals, advocates and other professionals provide high-quality legal assistance in housing, family matters, access to subsistence income, and access to health care and education. In 2015, we handled more than 14,000 cases benefitting more than 32,000 people – more than 12,000 of them children. From Westchester to Dutchess and Sullivan to Ulster, more than half a million Hudson Valley residents are eligible for our services,” said Barbara Finkelstein, CEO of LSHV, during her speech at the reception.

Dignitaries who attended the event include: Dutchess County Public Defender Thomas Angell; NYS Assemblymember Didi Barrett; Emily Darrow, Director of Marketing and Communications, United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region; Jennifer Drake, Senior Program Officer, Dyson Foundation; Dutchess County Legislator Angela Flesland; Jim Fogler, President, Poughkeepsie Journal; March Gallagher, Esq., President and CEO, Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley; Hon. John B. Garrity, retired City of Poughkeepsie Court Justice; Dutchess County District Attorney William Grady; Hon. Linda Jamieson, Justice, Westchester Supreme Court; Dutchess County Legislator Barbara Jeter Jackson; Jennifer Killian, Program Officer, Dyson Foundation; Jode Millman, Esq., Member of the Board of Directors, Dyson Foundation; Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro; Hon. Joan Posner, Justice, Dutchess County Family Court; Hon. William Sanchez, Justice, Town of Rhinebeck Court; NYS Senator Sue Serino; Cecilia Stancell, Director of Programs, Dyson Foundation; Arthur Upright, Chair, Board of Trustees, Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.