At Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS), we meet people every day who are doing their best to survive unimaginable hardships—tax sale foreclosure, domestic violence, human trafficking, unsafe housing—without the means to fight back. But your support changes that. You give them a voice. You give them a chance. If it's possible for you, I urge you to become a monthly donor today. It will be because you choose to care that someone who can't afford a lawyer finds justice, dignity, and hope. - https://buff.ly/NXJC6Vc (fb)

MVLS staff attorneys Steven Kappen and Nancy Grimm shared their expertise at last week’s Partners for Justice Conference, hosted by the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland. Steven co-presented Block by Block: The Personal Stories of Vacancy alongside Nneka Nnamdi of the SOS Fund. Their session explored how systemic forces—like redlining and disinvestment—shape individual lives, using title research, community interviews, and historical records to show how structural issues become deeply personal. Nancy served as moderator for The Impact on Mental Health and the Capacity to Parent in Child Custody Cases, featuring a dynamic panel of legal and mental health professionals. The discussion focused on how mental illness can influence parenting and co-parenting, and offered practical guidance for integrating mental health considerations into family law and CINA cases. (fb)