Announcing Our New Name

We are very excited to announce that Community Legal Services and Counseling Center (CLSACC) has changed its name to De Novo.

For nearly 50 years, our attorneys, clinicians and many dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly to ensure all people have access to the legal assistance and psychological counseling they need to transform their lives. In other words, the opportunity to begin anew: de novo.

By changing our name, we are embracing who we’ve always been - an organization that empowers underserved members of our community to seek justice, find healing, and build a new, hopeful future for themselves and their families.

Why we changed our name

Since our founding in 1970 as Cambridgeport Problem Center and later Community Legal Services and Counseling Center, De Novo has grown from a small group of dedicated volunteers with a vision to serve low-income Cambridge residents to a larger community of staff, volunteers, community partners and donors supporting legal and counseling programs throughout Greater Boston and, for immigrant and refugee clients, statewide.

Along with that growth came both opportunities and challenges – one of which being our name. As we gained more exposure, Community Legal Services and Counseling Center (CLSACC) or “classic” as it was affectionately pronounced, did not truly capture our identity and mission.

Our renaming is an opportunity for us to better communicate who we are, how our model works and more clearly convey the tremendous potential that legal assistance and counseling can have in the lives of our community members.

We are still the same organization

We will continue to provide free legal assistance and affordable psychological counseling to low-income people, and the name change does not impact our 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Thank you so much for your support and partnership over the years. We look forward to continuing this important work together as De Novo.

Sincerely,

Mojdeh Rohani
Executive Director