Congratulations Edgar and Jean!

It's just come to my attention that Edgar Cahn (the idea man behind Time Banking) and his late wife Jean have been awarded a National Legal Aid and Defender Association award!

"The 2009 Charles Dorsey Award recipients are Edgar Cahn and the late Jean Camper Cahn. This award recognizes an individual who has provided extraordinary and dedicated service to the equal justice community and to organizations that promote expanding and improving access to justice for low-income people. The award celebrates the accomplishments of the longtime executive director of the Legal Aid Bureau of Maryland, whose many national leadership roles included service as chair of the Project Advisory Group and as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants.

Prior to the development of the legislation for the War on Poverty in 1964, Edgar and Jean Camper Cahn helped to implement the work of Community Progress Inc., developing the first neighborhood-based law firm in New Haven, CT as part of that program. As part of the War on Poverty, the Cahns conceived, designed, proposed and founded the National Legal Services Program, which served as the blueprint for the Legal Services Program. Later, both Cahns helped shape the Legal Services Corporation as consultants to the President’s Commission on Reorganization.

In 1972, through the efforts of the Cahns, Antioch School of Law in Washington, DC, was established as the first clinical law school in the nation broadening access to legal careers and providing free legal services to thousands of District residents. As co-deans of the law school, the Cahn’s pioneered legal programs for poor residents of the District, and, many years later, when the school fell on hard times, the Cahn’s returned to Washington to play crucial roles in mobilizing the community and securing support to launch the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law as a successor to the Antioch School of Law.

In 1980, Edgar Cahn developed the strategy of co-production to empower the poor with a tax-exempt currency initially called services credits and later renamed as Time Dollars. The currency equated one hour spent helping others or building community or fighting for justice with one time dollar, which could then be used to secure computers, food, or clothes for families.

Today, while continuing the work of Time Banking, Edgar Cahn has embarked on a civil rights initiative to address racial disparity by proposing to shift the focus from past to future by formally giving officials a future choice between continuing with present practices that often result in racially disparate impact, with validated, less expensive and replicable alternatives.

“The selfless commitment of each of our award winners has advanced justice for countless people over several decades,” said NLADA President & CEO Jo-Ann Wallace. “Their passionate commitment, zealous advocacy and visionary leadership represent the finest tradition of the equal justice community and hope for equality in the future.” "

To see the article in full, Click Here. There is also a link to a video of an Edgar Cahn interview posted in our links section. Again, congratulations Edgar! And thank you for all you do!