Rev. William Barber had a message for dozens of legal aid staffers and supporters: After 60 years of serving New Haven, don’t “rest your case” against poverty.
Barber, the co-chair of the revived national Poor People’s Campaign and a professor at Yale, was the keynote speaker at a gala for New Haven Legal Assistance Association (NHLAA), an event that filled the beachside venue at Anthony’s Ocean View on Wednesday night.
The legal aid organization — one of the first in the country — is celebrating its 60th year of operations this year. It was founded in 1964 with a mission inspired by the contemporary Civil Rights Movement to provide free civil legal services to low-income clients…