María DeCastro Blake  Community Service Award 2006 Honoree Felipe Chavana Executive Director, Essex-Newark Legal Services

Born in New York City, Felipe was raised in the South Bronx. Graduating high school in 1967 with a general diploma, he caught a major break when he was accepted into City College’s initial group of disadvantaged students through the SEEK Program. In August 1970, Felipe found himself at the University of Puerto Rico where he completed his final year of college. Two years of public school teaching ensued. Convinced by friends to go to law school, he graduated from Rutgers Law School in 1976.

Felipe’s legal career has been dedicated to seeking justice for the poor and disadvantaged. The thirty years that followed his graduation have been spent as a legal services lawyer advocating the rights of low-income people in civil disputes.

Since 1989 Felipe has served as Executive Director of the Essex-Newark Legal Services Program. In that position he has the responsibility of ensuring the quality and availability of legal representation to Essex County’s low-income residents.