Angela Ciolfi, Executive Director
“Legal Aid Justice Center’s communities and clients experience environmental injustice inseparably from other forms of oppression. As we fight for justice alongside them, I am glad that we are doing our part to address our own environmental impacts.”
Partnering with Communities and Clients to Achieve Justice since 1967
About Legal Aid Justice Center
Founded in 1967, the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) is a broad-based anti-poverty advocacy organization serving low-income Virginians. Our mission is to partner with communities and clients to achieve justice by dismantling systems that create and perpetuate poverty. By justice, we mean racial justice, social justice, and economic justice. To accomplish our mission, we integrate a broad range of strategies, including individual legal representation, impact litigation, policy advocacy, communications, and community organizing. Headquartered in Charlottesville, we also have staff located in Richmond, Petersburg, Falls Church, Galax, and the Eastern Shore. We engage in local organizing and advocacy where we are physically present, and the impact of our systems change campaigns is often felt statewide.
WHY IT MAKES SENSE FOR A NONPROFIT LIKE OURS TO COMMIT TO ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
We cannot effectively address poverty without also addressing racism and structural oppression, and while LAJC does not have a formal environmental justice program, we recognize that environmental justice is also racial, social, and economic justice. We have joined the Green Business Alliance because doing our part to examine and improve our own environmental impact is part of our commitment to creating meaningful relationships with the communities we serve. Climate change disproportionately harms low-income and BIPOC communities. Our commitments to justice demand that we take that harm and our role in it seriously. Attention to climate action will further enable us to amplify and respond to the pressing needs of our constituents, partner equitably with BIPOC-led and grassroots nonprofits with deep understanding of community-centered solutions, and make strides toward collectively ensuring a smaller carbon footprint.
Legal Aid Justice Center headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia
LAJC earned the Green Business Alliance Momentum Medalist Award for conducting energy assessments and evaluating solar readiness.
STeps we’ve taken and our goals moving forward
LAJC continues to strengthen our partnership with the Community Climate Collaborative to advise us on taking practical steps to reduce our carbon footprint. In early 2020, C3 helped us coordinate an energy assessment to identify more environmentally conscious ways to operate efficiently. As a member of the Green Business Alliance, we committed to reducing our emissions by 30% over four years. We began the process of transitioning away from natural gas, installing energy efficient LED lighting, replacing air conditioning units, weatherizing our building and securing proposals for solar energy. We have a new goal to reduce our reliance on disposable plastics and paper products by installing water fountains. The future is looking bright green at LAJC!