Ms. Alvarez* came into Congreso de Latinos Unidos—a community-based organization in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood—for a monthly breast-feeding class made up of mostly Spanish-speaking mothers. Chatting with the class instructor, she mentioned that she hadn't been paid for her last week of work at a job she'd recently left. Her instructor referred her to Community Legal Services (CLS) attorney, Seth Lyons, who works onsite at Congreso once a week as part of a collaboration between the two organizations.
Without this collaborative partnership, Ms. Alvarez—an undocumented immigrant who only speaks Spanish—would not have known where to turn for her wage theft claim, but Seth was able to represent her and direct her to legal resources for immigration, utilities, and tax issues as well.