TOLEDO, OH – At today’s opening of the Center for Equal Justice, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced how more than $700,000 in new federal funds will help expand legal services for underserved communities in Northwest and Western Ohio.
“This center will be a headquarters for social and economic justice in Northwest Ohio,” Brown said. “This center will help expand legal services available to low-income Ohioans. Beyond providing a home for these services, this building will contribute to the economic development of downtown Toledo.”
The new center, located at 525 Jefferson Street at the corner of Huron, will house Ohio’s largest legal services programs—Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) and Legal Aid of Western Ohio—under one roof. The building, which will be home to services for low-income Ohioans from 32 counties, will fulfill the federal government’s commitment to “justice for all” and contribute to the development of downtown Toledo through the revitalization of a building that has been largely vacant for more than 30 years.
Brown secured $712,500 in federal funds through the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 to support the opening of the center. The total cost of the project is approximately $6.8 million, of which $6.5 million has been raised to date.
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