An Advocate for the Poor: Former LSC Board Member Edna Fairbanks-Williams

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC -- Edna Fairbanks-Williams, appointed to the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation by President Clinton, died in a car crash May 10 in Castleton, Vermont. She was 77.

Ms. Fairbanks-Williams served on the LSC Board from 1995 to 2004.

For 40 years, she was a leading advocate for the poor in Vermont. According to the Rutland Herald, Ms. Fairbanks-Williams spent her most recent days making dawn-to-dusk deliveries of free food and clothing to needy neighbors and visiting the Vermont legislature to oppose proposed social services funding reductions.

"Edna brought a real world perspective to LSC as a client-eligible member. She was a strong voice on behalf of low-income Americans, the elderly and persons with disabilities, and she will be greatly missed," LSC President Victor M. Fortuno said.

Ms. Fairbank-Williams helped launch the Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council and was a longtime board member of Vermont Legal Aid, the Legal Services Law Line of Vermont and the nonprofit Vermont Dental Care Programs for low-income children. She also had served as an adviser to the Vermont Governor's Commission on Women.

Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is an independent nonprofit established by Congress in 1974. For 50 years, LSC has provided financial support for civil legal aid to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 130 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories.  