Princeton Justice Initiative is the only 501(c)3 nonprofit social impact and legal aid organization in the country specifically aimed at lifting people out of poverty by offering holistic and individualized assistance.
Princeton Justice Initiative is an all-volunteer organization. Our volunteers come from diverse cultural, faith, socio-economic and professional backgrounds.
They include people who have experienced poverty, attorneys, teachers, business executives, retirees, philanthropists, students and community and non-profit leaders from across the state.
Working in Client Advocate Teams, we use our combined knowledge of both the law and community resources to provide legal advice, practical problem-solving guidance and mentorship to our clients.
We work one-on-one with clients to weigh legal options while identifying practical and effective solutions individually tailored to respect each client’s particular circumstances and individual priorities.
Our team’s collective and diverse knowledge and life experience is key to PJI’s ability as an organization to understand the the practical impact of poverty, its multi-dimensional and complex causes, and to identify pragmatic, effective, and novel solutions to help people in need.
Our “research” comes from Client Impact Information that we learn from our clients while we walk with them on their path toward progress.
We strive to use negative experiences our clients have had with the “system” —the roadblocks we too often witness they encounter—in a constructive manner that strives to have a positive impact on the community as a whole.
While always protecting our client’s privacy, we take the information gleaned from the many lessons learned and direct that information where it will best help create systemic change. This includes:
- Alerting service providers to a client’s positive or negative experience in seeking help
- Inviting public interest researchers to undertake study of problems with the system
- Explaining to lawmakers how certain laws impact our clients
- Filing civil suits to challenge laws or practices that have an unjust impact on the poor.