How CVLC Works
CVLC Mission & Vision Statements
Connecticut Veterans Legal Center’s mission is to provide free legal assistance to veterans who are in recovery from homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse to help them overcome legal barriers to housing, healthcare, and income.
Our vision is for all military veterans in Connecticut to live with adequate means, safe and secure housing, and affordable health care.
CVLC Works in Medical Legal Partnership with the VA
Since 2009, CVLC has co-located and collaborated with the VA CT’s Errera Community Care Center to create the country’s first VA medical-legal partnership. This partnership is the essential component to CVLC’s success in helping to serve Connecticut’s most vulnerable veterans. The warmth of the Errera Center, the richness and depth of the attorney relationships with the client groups and clinicians on site, and the seamless integration of attorneys as part of the mental health care available to veterans at Errera allow CVLC to be truly accessible to veterans.
The medical-legal partnership model allows CVLC staff and volunteers to serve marginalized clients, many of whom are homeless and many of whom have serious mental illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar and major depression. This co-location means easy access to free legal assistance, without any transportation or scheduling barriers. This also creates unique opportunities for multi-disciplinary teamwork between VA social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, peer specialists and CVLC staff and volunteer lawyers, paralegals and law students.
Because of the success of this model, in 2014, CVLC added the VA CT's Newington campus as a second VA medical-legal partnership location for on-site services. In 2017, CVLC added CT's Department of Veterans Affairs in Rocky Hill as its third site.
How CVLC Works:

A veteran's VA counselor notices that his post-deployment PTSD symptoms get worse when his landlord threatens to evict him and his children.

The veteran, counselor, and CVLC attorney work together to keep the veteran and his family in their apartment and maintain the veteran's mental health.

On average, CVLC keeps veterans facing eviction housed for an additional 3.5 Months.


A veteran in treatment at the VA is told she is no longer eligible for care due to her military discharge status.

CVLC seeks a character of service determination appealing the VA's decision to deny the veteran VA services.

Last year, CVLC improved access to free, high quality lifetime healthcare for 20 Veterans.


A VA clinician recognizes that a disabled veteran is struggling financially and has a low VA disability rating despite her severe mental health issue.

CVLC helps the veteran improve her disability rating so she can receive increased financial benefits from the VA.

Over the next ten years, $2.2 million will be brought in for 17 veterans because of CVLC's representation in VA Disability Compensation claims.

Donate Now
For every $1 you give, CVLC returns $20 to veterans in increased income and reduced debt.