Cabrini Green Legal Aid

“I’ve been clean for eight years now,” Simone says. Since completing a rehab program, she has earned a degree, made a career for herself as a nurse, and supported her four children.

“But I was on drugs for a long time before that. I had drug use, possession, battery, anything you could think of on my record. I got clean and was desperate to make a better life. Nobody wants to hire a criminal.”

Simone struggled for six years, working at White Castle while completing her education. Despite the college degree and the hard-won sobriety, she couldn’t get a driver’s license, obtain a nursing license or lease an apartment due to her criminal record.

Simone credits Cabrini Green Legal Aid for helping her start over. A $25,000 grant from the Trust’s Unity Challenge enabled CGLA to expand their Expungement Help Desk, a free program helping those with prior convictions get older cases sealed from the record.

“There already was a disproportionate need for these services before but with more people struggling with the economy, the job market is tighter than it’s ever been. An arrest or conviction can be more of a barrier to someone trying to get back on their feet,” says Bob Glaves, executive director of The Chicago Bar Foundation, which helped distribute $280,000 in Unity Challenge grants supporting legal aid.

Simone’s case alone would have cost an estimated $20,000 in legal fees. When combined with attorneys working pro bono, the Trust grant is enough to keep the Expungement Desk open five days a week.

“I worked with the courts on my own for about six months, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. I didn’t understand what they were asking or how to file the right paperwork,” Simone remembers. “I get so emotional talking about it because [CGLA] changed my whole life. My case worker helped me so much. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be.”