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Projects, Units & Initiatives
The Community Development Project (CDP) offers essential transactional legal services to small business owners and nonprofit organizations throughout New York City. Our mission is to provide our clients with legal resources and tools, enabling them to pursue sustainable, long-term success and foster job creation, thereby contributing to the enhancement of economic and social stability within their respective communities.
At CDP, we actively collaborate with community-based partners to offer workshops, counseling, and legal representation that amplify our impact and promote community resilience.
Supporting Low-Income Small Businesses We offer comprehensive guidance to our low-income small business clients, aiding them in selecting the appropriate business structure, crafting operational agreements, securing financing, adhering to tax obligations, safeguarding their intellectual property, and negotiating commercial leases, among other vital matters. Our small business clients range from street vendors to caterers to beauty salons, who play a pivotal role in job creation and fostering economic vitality within their communities.
Empowering Nonprofit Organizations Our nonprofit clients receive counsel spanning a wide spectrum of legal issues, including incorporation, tax exemption, compliance with charitable regulations, corporate governance, real estate matters, intellectual property, and employment concerns. Our nonprofit clients include arts organizations, after-school and childcare programs, community development entities, and groups dedicated to serving marginalized communities.
Assisting Immigrants Many of the cases CDP handles involve immigrants who are eager to work but face barriers due to current immigration laws. These individuals greatly benefit from discovering the opportunity to establish their own businesses. Unfortunately, they encounter significant challenges and are often vulnerable to fraudulent schemes.
In response to these pressing issues, CDP has taken proactive steps to assist this specific demographic. Our project offers valuable advice, community education, and legal support to these immigrants, enabling them to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams and provide for their families.
For instance, one group we assisted consisted of six Mexican immigrants who had dedicated over a decade to working at a store in Harlem until their employer attempted to alter their employment terms and ultimately terminated their contracts. Although they had acquired industry knowledge, they were unable to secure stable employment and turned to CDP for assistance. We provided comprehensive guidance and legal counsel on all aspects of business establishment, setting these clients on a path to economic self-sufficiency. Currently their company successfully operates two stores, the profits of which sustain the owners and their families.
Assisting Justice-Affected Entrepreneurs CDP also supports justice-affected entrepreneurs including those who were disproportionately harmed by the Rockefeller Drug Laws, Stop and Frisk, and the criminalization of cannabis. Reentering entrepreneurs are creative and resourceful but face many barriers. In addition to assistance with entity formation, drafting of standard form agreements, employment, and intellectual property law advice—the services we provide to other small business owners—we endeavor to meet the unique needs of those who have been incarcerated by helping them seal eligible convictions through the Clean Slate Act and other sealing laws and address the collateral consequences of convictions on licenses and permits, government procurement and contracting, and financing.
Supporting Nonprofit Organizations and Addressing Gentrification CDP supports nonprofit organizations, including many cultural heritage organizations that preserve vital history, culture, and traditions. As anchors in their respective communities, these nonprofits provide mutual aid, promote economic equity, and fight for racial justice. For example, the United Order of Tents is the oldest Black women’s benevolent society in the United States. The organization was founded in 1883 by Anetta M. Lane and Harriet R. Taylor, two formerly enslaved women, in Norfolk, Virginia. Chapters or “tents” were formed throughout the South and Mid-Atlantic. The United Order of Tents of Brooklyn of the Eastern District No. 3 (J.R.G. and J.U.), Inc. was incorporated in 1945. Since that time, it has owned and operated an Italianate mansion at 87 Macdonough Street in Brooklyn, New York. For more than seventy-five (75) years, the building and property have been a central hub from which the United Order of Tents Brooklyn has promoted sisterhood and provided aid to local communities by tending to the sick, feeding the poor, caring for the elderly, and burying the deceased. In or about 2014, the United Order of Tents—Brooklyn was subjected to a tax lien and placed on the tax lien sale list. The organization was at risk of losing its headquarters.
The Legal Aid Society’s Community Development Project and several pro bono partners assisted the United Order of Tents Brooklyn in resolving a breach of contract dispute with a private developer, vacating a tax lien, obtaining 501(c)(3) exemption, and securing a provisional real property tax exemption. The Community Development Project was also instrumental in helping the organization win a Humanities in Place grant from the Mellon Foundation and a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The grant from the Mellon Foundation will support program design, board development, and strategic planning, while the grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation will support stabilization, structural repairs, and preservation of the organization’s historic headquarters.
The Community Development Project actively engages in partnerships with elected officials, colleges, civil and professional organizations, and fellow legal service providers, fostering a collaborative approach to uplift and enhance our communities. By uniting with these stakeholders, we forge connections with small business owners, nonprofit organizations, and low-income cooperative groups across New York City.
Our overarching mission is to empower these entities with training, support, and expert legal counsel. Through these strategic alliances, we equip our clients with the tools necessary to achieve sustainable success, thereby enabling them to actively contribute to job creation and play a pivotal role in nurturing economic and social stability within their neighborhoods.
Throughout the challenges posed by the pandemic, we remained steadfast in our commitment, conducting approximately 50 training sessions and outreach events annually, effectively reaching nearly 6,000 individuals each year.
Beginning on January 1, 2024, the Corporate Transparency Act will require most entities formed or registered in the United States to report detailed information about their beneficial owners, i.e. the individuals who own or control the company to the U.S. Department of Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Learn More.
On December 3, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction temporarily blocking enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) and its reporting rule. The court’s ruling is a preliminary injunction only—not a final decision—and will likely be appealed. It temporarily suspends the obligation of business owners to comply with the CTA, however, business owners should still be prepared to act quickly to meet the CTA’s reporting requirements if the injunction is lifted or enforcement resumes due to legislative action. Businesses should stay informed and monitor CTA developments.
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 reserve a spot in our new virtual clinic by completing our online questionnaire.