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ABOUT US — CHANGING THE SYSTEM. SOWING SEEDS OF JUSTICE

Connecticut Appleseed is a statewide, non-partisan 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to develop solutions for the causes, rather than the symptoms, of our state’s social problems. We help to make systemic changes in the delivery of services to enhance social and economic justice in our state by mobilizing the skills and resources of pro bono lawyers and other professionals. Our projects focus on improving access to education, healthcare and financial services for the state’s disadvantaged and underrepresented citizens.

The Appleseed network (www.appleseednetwork.org) of which we are part fosters both multi-state collaborative projects that leverage both national and in-state pro bono legal resources and the sharing of successful ideas and innovative programs. For example, Connecticut Appleseed was one of the 6 state-based Centers that collaborated in 2007 with the national Holland & Knight firm to produce “It Takes a Parent: Transforming Education in the Wake of the No Child Left Behind Act”.

In 2010 Connecticut Appleseed collaborated with 4 other state-based Centers to produce “The Same Starting Line: How School Boards Can Erase the Opportunity Gap Between Poor and Middle-Class Children”. That report included an examination of whether a measurable difference in the quality of educational opportunities existed among elementary school students in Hamden, CT. Lastly, Connecticut Appleseed’s 2011 “Keep Kids in School: Improving School Discipline” report related in spirit – though not in detail - to analyses of school suspensions and expulsions data performed by our sister Centers in Texas and Georgia.

By leveraging the efforts of our well-connected Board, skilled volunteers and tiny staff, Connecticut Appleseed operates very efficiently. In both 2010 and 2011, an annual average of 1,150 hours of pro bono support - valued at roughly $250,000 - helped to drive our projects. Volunteer attorneys have been the indispensable linchpin of every one of our projects. Members of our Board of Directors also worked hard to prompt the Connecticut State Dental Association to undertake a series of pro bono initiatives which have provided several thousand children and adults with free dental care.