Community Service Opportunities
Angel Tree
Together with the Women's Law Student Association, the Christian Law Fellowship sponsors the annual Angel Tree program. Angel Tree is a holiday service project that provides gifts, clothing, and toys to children of prisoners. Each year, members of the law school community "adopt" angels and provide gifts to 50-75 children, most of whom live in the Richmond area.
Build It
Build It is the University of Richmond's largest community engagement initiative and is designed to connect students, staff, and faculty to one another and to the residents of Richmond region through service, education, and community involvement. Build It participants develop and implement collaborative projects that address pressing needs in at-risk neighborhoods in the greater Richmond region.
Virginia Bar Association Community Service Program
Annually, more than 100 students and faculty at the law school commit to becoming community servants. Students pledge to perform 35 hours, and faculty pledge to perform 50 hours of pro bono publico and/or community service. This ongoing program is sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association's Community Service Council.
ESL (English as a Second Language) Mentorship Program
Law students are paired with Richmond Public School classrooms to provide mentorship and tutoring to ESL students. This program is coordinated by the student organization Hispanic Community Legal Liaison Association.
General Education Diploma (GED) Program
University law students help violent offenders and gang members achieve their GEDs. Each student volunteer conducts 90-minute tutoring sessions once a week, and students are encouraged to develop their own lesson plans. The program has more than 70 registered offender participants.
Greater Richmond Earned Income Tax Credit Coalition (GREITCC)
GREITCC volunteers provide tax preparation services to low-income households throughout the Greater Richmond region. Students take a tax training class, pass a certification test, and then volunteer at various "tax sites" within the community, serving primarily to help low-income households obtain the Earned Income Tax Credit. This program is coordinated by the student organization Hispanic Community Legal Liaison Association.
Legal Aid Justice Center's Pro Bono Housing Program
Law students work with the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) by conducting intake interviews twice a week for clients with housing issues that range from eviction notices to unlawful detainers.
Medical-Legal Partnership of Richmond (MLP-R)
The Medical-Legal Partnership of Richmond (MLP-R) is an outreach partnership between the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School, the Virginia Legal Aid Justice Center, and the University of Richmond School of Law. It is a collaboration of lawyers, healthcare professionals, law students, medical students, and social workers which is designed to provide legal advocacy in a clinical setting. The purpose is to improve the overall health of low income families and provide a means for them to obtain legal aid. Students are able to engage collaboratively in a systemic advocacy approach to address legal or bureaucratic obstacles that adversely affect family health.
Street Law
Street Law is a program dedicated to educating young Americans about their legal rights and responsibilities. Through partnerships with area community centers, University law students develop and teach curricula on legal areas of interests to the youth in these communities, including criminal procedure, housing, and family law.