Tashanna Golden is director of the Housing Unit at Staten Island Legal Services NYC. (Courtesy/Tashanna Golden)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With plenty of sad news making headlines these days, Tashanna Golden's story is a refreshing change -- a feel-good story about a Staten Island resident whose life has come full circle.
After growing up in the West Brighton projects, Golden speaks from her heart when she says she felt folks never really expected that much from her.
Staffers at Staten Island Legal Services NYC. (Courtesy/Seth Hoy)
"I was fortunate to have family, friends, teachers and mentors who always encouraged and believed in me,'' says the Travis resident. "And if you ask anyone who knew me growing up, they knew I always wanted to be a lawyer."
In her role as director of the Housing Unit at Staten Island Legal Services, she is able to directly assist people who live in her former neighborhood. And she views it as a blessing. Practicing law in a courtroom that's 15 minutes from where she grew up is an amazing feeling, she said.
Legal Services provides free civil legal representation, counseling and advocacy in areas ranging from housing and education to family and disability rights. Located in all five boroughs, it has assisted more than 111,000 low-income New Yorkers with complicated civil legal issues.
On any given day in court, Golden sees people she grew up with, some who she always considered to be staples in the community.
Staffers at Staten Island Legal Services NYC, are, from the left, Rachel Granfield, senior staff attorney, John Montoute, deputy director, Connie Hong, staff attorney, Tashanna Golden, director, Julienne Hoffman, paralegal, Maria Fuentes, paralegal, Michael Puleo, staff attorney and Darryl Barney, staff attorney. (Courtesy/Tashanna Golden)
"Sometimes it's uncomfortable,'' she admits, "But, overall, I think me being there gives them a sense that someone is, in fact, there to help them.'' As the director of the Housing Unit, she has the ability to steer the practice in a way that will create stronger ties to the community, she said.
"In the new year we are hoping to not only work defensively -- representing clients in non-payments and holdovers in housing court, but also affirmatively, by filing cases against landlords we believe are breaking the law," she said.
From left, Attorneys Aaron Horth, Jeanette Cepeda and Tashanna Golden. (Courtesy/Robert Braunfeld
Golden was named the director of the Housing Unit in October 2018, after working as a staff attorney in the unit for almost three and a half years.
She attended St. John's University at night while working full time as a paralegal during the day.
During the spring of 2005, she graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in English. She studied law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she graduated with a juris doctorate in May 2008.
Upon graduating, she began her legal career as an associate in the Securities Litigation group at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, an AmLaw 100 firm. While there, she represented several clients in what's known as "bet the business" litigations, but also spent significant amounts of time on pro bono cases, where she represented low-income clients in several different capacities.
Atteib Djourab, access line operator at Legal Services NYC. (Courtesy/Reuben Kleiner)
"Legal Services NYC fights every day to get justice for Staten Islanders, many of whom are at risk of losing their homes, facing foreclosure, or dealing with other complex legal issues like immigration matters, domestic violence issues, or discrimination," said Tanya Wong, project director of Legal Services NYC's Staten Island office.
Staff attorneys Terry Lawson (Bronx office) and Lorilei Williams, of the Staten Island office, are shown. (Courtesy/Seth Hoy)
Legal Services NYC (LSNYC) opened its Staten Island office in 2004 to address domestic violence issues with a staff of four.
Since then, the office has grown significantly, and currently has 30 full-time employees who represented more than 6,000 Staten Islanders this past year alone on a wider range of legal matters, including housing/eviction issues, foreclosure and predatory lending, immigration matters, domestic violence, education and LGBTQ equality.
Raun Rasmussen is executive director of Legal Services NYC. (Courtesy/Robert Braunfeld)
Legal Services has also assisted more than 900 Staten Island residents facing foreclosure and predatory lenders, more than 300 victims of domestic violence and their families and 1,900 tenants and their families facing eviction in the borough.
The office also assisted 1,122 residents with immigration matters on Staten Island and helped more than 182 students with special needs obtain school services.
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