John Castellano Wins Human Rights Award
ISLIP TERRACE, NY. JUNE, 2011. CITING HIS EFFORTS TO REPRESENT A CLASS OF PEOPLE WITH NO CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO COUNSEL, the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission honored John Castellano, Esq., Attorney in Charge of the Mercy Advocacy Program (MAP), with the Lawrence Timpa Award for Professional Service at their Awards Dinner on May 25, 2011.
Mercy Advocacy Program (MAP) was founded at Mercy Haven, Inc. in October 1997 to provide counsel for low-income persons facing a civil legal emergency. Mr. Castellano has been the Attorney-in-Charge of the MAP program since its inception at Mercy Haven, Inc., a not-for-profit organization based in Islip Terrace whose mission is to acknowledge the dignity and potential of people who are homeless, living with mental illness, or living in poverty by providing housing, advocacy, education, and life-skills development. Prior to his tenure at Mercy Haven, Mr. Castellano worked for Nassau-Suffolk Law Services. Westchester Legal Services, and MFY Legal Services.
Unlike protections offered by the U.S. legal system for the poor who are facing criminal charges, there is no constitutional right to counsel for low-income persons facing a civil legal emergency. Since 1997, Mr. Castellano has opened 2,081 cases representing clients who face life-threatening risks such as: termination of cash assistance from public assistance, Social Security, and disability; limitation of access to health care through Medicaid and Medicare; termination of food stamps or utilities; eviction; and various family law matters.
In addition, in 2008, Mr. Castellano along with Peter Volmer, Esq. and Gene Doyle of People Organized for Rights, were victorious in a Food Stamp class-action litigation, Graves v. Doar, that resulted in an increase of $150 million per year in federal Food Stamp benefits for 20,000 group home residents and 95,000 more recipients residing in public/subsidized housing throughout New York State.
“The goal of MAP,” said Mr. Castellano, “is to render the value of „equal justice for all‟ a reality. This award from the Suffolk County Human Rights Commission is recognition that equal protection under the law is not a benefit available only to those with the financial means, but a basic human right that should be afforded to all.”
On hand to help honor Mr. Castellano were Mercy Haven co-founders Sisters Patricia Griffith and Kathleen Nolan, who with Mr. Castellano created a new model for advocacy of Long Island‟s most at-risk residents by providing free legal services within Mercy Haven.
