a A 2020 holiday story read by Pine Tree’s managers.
To paraphrase an old saying, it takes a village to ensure justice for all. We are honored to be part of a great “village” in Maine. We’d like to give a shout out to the network of legal aid organizations in Maine who work each day to fight for fairness and justice for all Mainers:

  • The Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic at Maine Law is training future members of the Maine bar with innovative projects, like the prisoner assistance project and the refugee & Human Rights Clinic.
  • Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project has been working in overdrive to fight for the rights of Maine’s immigrants as immigration laws and policies have become more complex and more difficult to navigate without an attorney.
  • Legal Services for the Elderly has an exceptional team of experts to provide free legal advice in the highly technical areas of health care, health insurance, Medicare (including Part D), MaineCare (Medicaid), Social Security, elder abuse and more.
  • Maine Equal Justice is partnering with real people who are struggling to make ends meet to advance policy solutions.
  • The Volunteer Lawyers Project is harnessing the generosity of pro bono attorneys across the state an connecting them with people in need of legal help.

Thanks to the staff, Board members, and volunteers of these organization for your tireless advocacy. We wish you a bright new year! 
Check out the video above, an update put out for the 2020 Muskie Dinner, to hear more about these organizations' ongoing work.
"The public health risks associated with evictions have been modeled by Michael Levy, an epidemiologist at the University of Pennsylvania. His research — which was independent of these legal challenges to the CDC moratorium — focused on the potential effect of evictions on the spread of Covid-19. When tenants are evicted, they often move in with other family members, increasing the size of households and the chance for viral transmission. Levy’s model predicts that a 1% eviction rate would result in a 5% to 10% higher incidence of infection, leading to approximately 1 death for every 60 evictions."

This graph shows a comparison of monthly evictions in 2019 and 2020.

Behind the numbers:
Courts closed in March 2020 and reopened for evictions in August. The CDC moratorium went into effect in September.
We invite you to join us in reflecting on 2020, with these resources as a guide.
What does justice look like to you in 2021?












Watch the recording of our most recent Cocktails and Conversation: A year end review from PTLA Staff
Educate
Help empower others by sharing resources from our website and Facebook. Join us every Tuesday and help spread the word about our new weekly Eviction Information Sessions
Volunteer
Join our community of attorneys and advocates working to increase access to justice for low-income Mainers! Learn more about volunteer opportunities.
Give
Your generous gifts make our work possible. Consider making a donation to Pine Tree.

Members of the Maine Bar should instead donate to the Campaign for Justice.
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Copyright © 2020, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, All rights reserved.


Pine Tree Legal Assistance is a non-profit, is a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated on June 14, 1966. Our tax ID number is 01-02 79387. Pine Tree Legal Assistance is funded in part by the Legal Services Corporation (“LSC”). As a condition of the funding received from LSC, Pine Tree Legal Assistance is restricted in certain activities in all of its legal work, including work supported by other funding sources. Pine Tree Legal Assistance may not expend any funds for any activity prohibited by the Legal Services Corporation Act, 42 U.S.C §2996 et. seq. or by Public Law 104-134. Public Law 104—234 §504(d) required that notice of these restrictions be given to all funders or programs funded by the Legal Services Corporation. For a copy of these laws or any further information, please contact: Executive Director, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, PO Box 547, Portland, Maine 04112; Tel. 207-774-4753.