Foundation Innovation Mission fellow named a 2019 Cleveland City Champion by The Plain Dealer

Monday, November 25, 2019

Tags: Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland , Foundations

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Hazel Remesch, supervising attorney at Legal Aid and a founder of the Housing Justice Alliance, has been named a 2019 Cleveland City Champion for her work to ensure fairness for low-income people who face housing instability. Remesch was one of five fellows of The Innovation Mission, a program of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland that helped the fellows develop innovative ideas aimed at breaking down specific barriers faced by low-income families. She used her time as a fellow to develop the Housing Justice Alliance, which is a collaboration between the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Cleveland City Council, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association and the Cleveland Academy of Trial Attorneys.

The City Champions project is a partnership among The Guardian, Ideastream and The Plain Dealer that aims to give individual and groups proper recognition and inspire others. The announcement in The Plain Dealer article read:

“They differ in almost every possible way, except one: All have done brilliant, brave things to lift up their communities. They have fought for better nutrition, health, employment and education. They have fought against environmental toxins and criminal exploitation. They have built better lives for their neighbors. Some have done this for years, others for decades.

A brief description of her work and that of the Housing Justice Alliance appeared with the announcement. The description text is below. The full article is available here.

UPDATE: On December 15, The Plain Dealer published a story about Remesch and her work to help tenants fight eviction. Read the article here.

Hazel Remesch leads an alliance that has been successful in making it easier for Cleveland tenants to seal eviction records, and in getting the city to adopt legislation that gives tenants in eviction cases the right to legal representation. As the supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, she instituted the Housing Justice Alliance at Legal Aid as part of a fellowship with the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland and the Cleveland Leadership Center. Her passion stems from what she’s learned during 10 years working in housing law: stable housing is a basic human need that is essential to success and the ability to engage with communities.

The Sisters of Charity Foundation is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland.