Legal Aid of North Carolina opens new Raleigh office

On Oct. 27, Legal Aid of North Carolina celebrated the opening of its new Raleigh office with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and community gathering.

The office, located at 1425 Promise Beacon Circle, Suite 201, will serve as a central hub for delivering civil legal services to residents of Wake and Johnston counties, the organization stated in a press release. The project was made possible through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Mary-Ann Baldwin, a former Raleigh mayor, supported the effort to secure funding, called the new office a “lifesaver.”

“This whole community is about building people up, is about changing their lives, improving their lives, and I am so proud to be here today,” Baldwin said.

The new office is part of Beacon Point, a development created to connect families with health care, financial services, small business resources, and nonprofit programs near existing affordable housing, childcare, and education options.  The office is located along GoRaleigh transit routes and directly on the Walnut Creek Greenway for improved accessibility.

Ashley Campbell, CEO of Legal Aid of North Carolina, said that the opening represents progress amid major statewide funding challenges affecting the civil legal aid sector. Legal Aid was recently forced to close its Rocky Mount office due to a statewide freeze on North Carolina’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program.

“Our mission does not waver,” Campbell said. “We want spaces like this all across North Carolina, particularly in rural areas. We need IOLTA funding to be restored for civil legal aid so that we can invest financial resources in NC communities where there are not large municipal budgets like there are in Raleigh. Everyone deserves fairness and access to our courts.”