Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center developed The William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center to have an impact on social justice, legal training and the lives of countless individuals in and beyond the local community.

Housed within the law school, the Center provides furnished offices to local non-profit agencies. Touro students have the opportunity to work with participating agencies, proving them the opportunity for hands-on skills training while developing an understanding of the problems facing the local community.

Currently, fifteen agencies are members of the Center. These agencies are:

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
is the Long Island Chapter of the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. Issuers and projects include income tax assistance, neighborhood safety, health and environmental justice, voter participation, living wage, housing and community reinvestment.

Brighter Tomorrows
is a licensed not-for-profit domestic violence shelter facility that provides comprehensive services to victims of domestic violence and whose programs provide refuge and support to battered women and their children. By delivering a comprehensive array of services, self esteem and empowerment strategies for living, skills are restored and victims learn how to become survivors and return to their communities prepared to focus on better and more secure futures.

The Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN)
is an organization that provides legal, educational and advocacy services for immigrants. The legal department provides counseling in such areas as employment and labor law, civil rights law and housing, and focuses on the immigration needs of Central Americans as well as assisting all immigrants with the naturalization process.

The Empire Justice Center
is the only statewide, multi-issue, multi-strategy non-profit law firm focused on changing the "systems" within which poor and low-income families live. With a focus on poverty law, Empire Justice undertakes research and training, acts as an informational clearinghouse and provides litigation backup to local legal services programs and community based organizations.

The Health and Welfare Council of Long Island
is a health and human services planning, research/public education and advocacy organization that serves as the umbrella for public and voluntary agencies serving Long Island's poor and vulnerable individuals and families. Though the Council has changed and grown since its establishment in 1947, its mission has always remained the same: to respond to the needs of all Long Islanders, ensuring that the voices of the powerless are heard.

Long Island Advocacy Center
provides information and referral, individual/case advocacy, and legal advocacy for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Through mediation, negotiation and representation the Long Island Advocacy Center ensures students and individuals with disabilities receive the best and most service to which they are entitled under law.

Long Island Housing Services
seeks the elimination of unlawful housing discrimination and promotion of decent and affordable housing through advocacy and education. The agency promotes racial integration and equal housing opportunities on Long Island by providing fair housing testing, presentations to the public, landlord/tenant counseling, pre/post home purchase counseling and many more helpful services.

Nassau/Suffolk Law Services Committee, Inc.
is a non-profit, community-based poverty law program which provides legal assistance in civil (non-criminal) matters to low-income individuals throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties in New York. The program provides free legal service in thousands of cases each year as well as legal support to every church, agency and grassroots organization that works with the poor.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
was founded in 1972 by three young attorneys with the mission to provide Latinos with legal resources needed to overcome the barriers and obstacles they face in their desire for higher education, better employment opportunities and more rights in their everyday lives. Using the power of the law together with advocacy and education, PRLDEF protects opportunities for all Latinos to succeed in school and work, fulfill their dreams, and sustain their families and communities.

SEPA Mujer, Services for the Advancement of Women
is a community-based organization offering legal rights education for Latina immigrant women and free representation for Latina victims of domestic violence. Founded in 1996, the agency is dedicated to educating, informing and organizing the community.

The Society of American Law Teachers (SALT)
is the largest membership organization of law teachers in the United States. SALT is committed to creating and maintaining a community of progressive and caring law professors dedicated to making a difference through the power of law. The organization is dedicated to promoting the use of innovative styles of teaching to make our classrooms more inclusive and challenging faculty and students to develop legal institutions with greater equality, justice and excellence.

The Suffolk Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union
is dedicated to the protection of civil liberties as embodied in the Bill of Rights. Its mission is to protect the constitutional rights of the people it serves through advocacy and involvement in the legislative process and to educate the community about civil liberties issues.

Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence (SCCADV)
dedicates all of its efforts to providing safety and support to family violence victims by offering preventative and supportive services. SCCADV offers victims options as they take the steps needed to reclaim their lives. Services provided include a 24-hour hotline, a shelter, legal assistance, community education, counseling services and transitional housing programs.

The Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk (VIBS)
has been a pioneer in the domestic violence and rape crisis movements since its establishment in 1976. Its mission is to assist the survivors of domestic violence, rape and sexual assault; to prevent the incidence of these crimes through education and services; and to raise community awareness of the need for justice and compassion for victims.

The Workplace Project
is a non-profit organization that organizes immigrant workers for better working and living conditions. It is dedicated to fighting the exploitation of Latino immigrant workers on Long Island and to achieving social justice through full political, economic and cultural participation of those workers in the communities in which they live. Services provided include education, development of worker-owned cooperatives, leadership training and labor-related legal support.

For additional information, please contact Thomas Maligno, Executive Director of the Public Advocacy Center and Director of Public Interest at Touro Law Center at (631) 761-7033 or thomasm@tourolaw.edu

Click here to read about the Opening Ceremonies of the William Randolph Hearst Public Advocacy Center.