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Projects, Units & Initiatives
The Community Development Project (CDP) offers essential transactional legal services to small business owners, nonprofit organizations and affordable housing cooperatives across New York City. We provide the legal resources and tools our clients need to build sustainable businesses, create jobs, and strengthen their communities.
We work closely with community partners to deliver workshops, counseling, and direct legal representation that amplify our impact and promote long-term community resilience.
For help with small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and HDFCs contact the Community Development Project at 212-298-3340, CommunityDevProject@legal-aid.org, or complete our online intake form.
CDP helps entrepreneurs, nonprofits, affordable housing cooperatives and grassroots groups strengthen their neighborhoods and resist displacement of residents. We do this by providing transactional legal support. Our specialized services include:
Small Business Support Help with choosing a business structure, reviewing contracts and leases, advising on licensing requirements, ensuring legal compliance when applying for or closing on a loan, protecting intellectual property, and navigating issues related to doing business online.
Our clients include street vendors, caterers, childcare providers, neighborhood salons, artists, and local shop owners, and many others. These small businesses are diverse, but they share a common role: fueling local economies, creating opportunity, and sustaining community life.
Nonprofit Assistance Support with incorporation, applying for tax-exemption, board governance and training, and ongoing compliance with state and federal requirements. We work with projects that contribute to the revitalization and stability of their communities.
Our nonprofit clients include arts organizations, after-school programs, community development groups, and organizations dedicated to racial justice and cultural preservation.
Affordable Housing We provide legal support to limited equity housing cooperatives (HDFCs). Through this work, CDP helps ensure that residents can maintain long-term affordability, build collective ownership, and preserve housing stability in their neighborhoods.
Our clients include boards of directors navigating governance, compliance, and financial challenges, and individual shareholders seeking guidance on their rights and responsibilities. Each request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether we can provide representation.
Free Legal Clinics & Workshops We offer one-on-one consultations and educational trainings, often in partnership with pro bono attorneys, to help entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and groups understand their legal options and next steps.
Client Spotlights Behind every case is a story of resilience and community impact. These client spotlights highlight how CDP’s legal support helps small business owners turn challenges into opportunities, create jobs, and strengthen their neighborhoods.
From stylist to salon owner With CDP’s guidance, a local stylist launched her own beauty salon, creating jobs and a welcoming space in Brooklyn.
Building community through coffee With CDP’s support, a neighborhood entrepreneur turned his dream of running a coffee shop into reality, strengthening the local economy.
Supporting Immigrant Entrepreneurs Many immigrant entrepreneurs bring skills and determination but face systemic barriers, language access challenges, and predatory practices. CDP helps level the playing field by providing legal advice, education, and representation.
For instance, we assisted a group of Spanish-speaking immigrant workers who had lost their jobs after years of working together at the same business. With CDP’s help, they were able to form a company that now successfully operates multiple locations, sustaining both their families and their community.
Assisting Justice-Affected Entrepreneurs We support entrepreneurs returning from incarceration, including those disproportionately harmed by the Rockefeller Drug Laws, Stop-and-Frisk, and cannabis criminalization.
Like our other clients, justice-affected entrepreneurs receive comprehensive transactional legal services including help with business or nonprofit formation, contracts, governance, and other matters essential to starting and sustaining their projects.
Preserving Community Nonprofits and Cultural Institutions Nonprofits serve as anchors in their communities, preserving history and culture while advancing equity and mutual aid. CDP is committed to supporting these organizations.
With help of our pro bono partners, we assisted a longstanding benevolent Black women’s organization that was at risk of losing its historic home. We assisted with resolving a contract dispute, securing tax exemptions, and obtaining grant support for historic preservation and organizational development ensuring the group’s ability to continue serving the community for generations.
CDP partners with elected officials, community organizations, and fellow legal service providers, fostering a collaborative approach to uplift and enhance our communities.This way, we connect directly with small business owners, nonprofit organizations, and limited-equity housing cooperatives, ensuring that our services reach the people and institutions most affected by systemic inequities.
Through these partnerships, CDP provides training, education, and expert legal counsel that promote economic justice, community wealth-building, and racial equity. We deliver about 50 workshops and outreach events each year, reaching nearly 6,000 people across New York City.