The Clinic’s Community Outreach Program strives to enhance the power and effectiveness of grassroots organizations, municipal governments, and individual citizens. The Outreach Program works to integrate the Clinic's legal activities with long-term community strategies, helping communities create a context within which they can realize the full benefit of legal victories and effectively respond to legal setbacks.
The Community Outreach Program strives to ensure that the clients develop and maintain an overall strategy to achieve their goals and that they are actively participating in their cases.This work involves helping organizations and individual clients understand the scope of the environmental quality and enforcement problems in the state and what actions they can take to effect change in these areas. The Community Outreach Program assists these organizations and individuals in working with staff attorneys and technical experts to identify the best remedies for these problems and in getting involved in the environmental decision-making process.
The Outreach Program's basic strategy is to: (1) empower clients—local citizens, grassroots organizations, and municipalities—to help them participate effectively in government decisions concerning their neighborhoods and environment; (2) promote dialogue between community groups, the Clinic, the funding community, elected officials, representatives of polluting industries, and the media; and (3) pass along techniques and knowledge to emerging environmental leaders through the training of undergraduate interns and citizens.
The Community Outreach Program:
- Serves as the primary liaison between the Clinic and its clients, working with Clinic staff and student attorneys to develop strategies for advancing client goals
- Facilitates community meetings, conference calls, workshops, and training sessions to empower clients
- Assists clients with networking, mailings, speaking, and strategy
- Issues timely and accurate information on environmental issues and recent developments to Clinic staff and clients
- Directs the Clinic's media strategy, maintaining a working relationship with members of the press, preparing press materials, and coordinating with clients regarding requests for press events
