Community Health Law Project - Elizabeth, NJ

Championing Legal Rights for Individuals with Disabilities in Elizabeth

Established in 1976, the Community Health Law Project operates as a premier nonprofit legal services organization dedicated to protecting vulnerable residents throughout New Jersey. Operating from its East Jersey main office at 65 Jefferson Avenue in Elizabeth, the organization delivers comprehensive legal assistance to low-income individuals coping with developmental disabilities, mental health challenges, physical impairments, and chronic illnesses. When vulnerable community members need a lawyer to stop an unlawful eviction, secure life-sustaining public benefits, or contest unlawful disability discrimination, this experienced legal team provides steadfast advocacy that empowers clients to maintain their independence and community dignity.

Fair Housing, Eviction Prevention, and Residential Advocacy

Safe and affordable housing is essential for community stability and long-term health. Working as dedicated residential real estate lawyers, the legal staff safeguards tenants against unfair landlord actions, wrongful evictions, and uninhabitable living conditions.

• Eviction Defense and Diversion: Representing low-income tenants facing eviction in New Jersey Superior Court through the Comprehensive Eviction Defense and Diversion program, negotiating lease settlements, and preventing homelessness.
• Reasonable Accommodations: Enforcing fair housing protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination to secure physical property modifications and service animal approvals.
• Subsidized Housing Disputes: Defending client rights in Section 8 voucher terminations, public housing grievances, and rent miscalculations.

Disability Rights and Workplace Discrimination Protections

Individuals with medical conditions frequently face bias in employment and community access. The organization's legal advocates fight to eradicate systemic barriers across Northern New Jersey.

• Workplace Bias: Collaborating with focused workplace discrimination lawyers and employment and labor lawyers to confront discriminatory hiring practices, unfair demotions, and employer refusals to provide reasonable accommodations.
• Barrier-Free Accessibility: Litigating barrier removal in public facilities, transportation systems, and multi-family residential developments to ensure equal physical access.

Estate Directives, Healthcare Proxies, and Family Law

Planning for future medical contingencies and domestic stability requires thoughtful legal preparation. Operating alongside wills, estate planning and probate lawyers, the organization offers specialized counseling.

• Powers of Attorney: Drafting durable powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives with skilled power of attorney lawyers to ensure trusted proxies make medical and financial decisions during periods of incapacity.
• Family Law Support: Assisting clients alongside divorce and family law lawyers, child custody lawyers, and child support lawyers to resolve domestic challenges, maintain parental connections, and protect disabled parents from unfair support garnishments.
• Domestic Abuse Protection: Representing survivors of domestic violence in obtaining final restraining orders and safety measures with committed domestic violence lawyers.

Why Union County Relies on the Community Health Law Project

Those who seek to find a lawyer or obtain legal advocacy for disabled family members value the organization's compassionate intake process, multi-lingual capabilities in English and Spanish, and half a century of precedent-setting public interest litigation. Unlike commercial firms where families must hire an attorney at steep hourly rates, the Community Health Law Project offers free or low-cost civil legal aid to qualifying clients, standing as an indispensable guardian of justice in Elizabeth.