SPRING HILL – On Saturday, Community Legal Services (CLS) celebrated 60 years of service to Central Florida. County board members, Representative Jeff Holcomb, and other members of the community gathered at Anderson Snow Park to honor this momentous milestone. “Six decades of doing anything is awesome, but when you are doing the good work [CLS does], it is something really proud to celebrate,” Commissioner Jerry Campbell said.
Founded in 1966, CLS is a nonprofit legal services organization that provides legal services at no charge to individuals who qualify. They began with just 13 lawyers, 4 social service professionals, and 8 community members, “who recognized that Floridians needed to be able to obtain legal services and that legal services were often far exceeding the cost that most people could afford,” Morgan Cardinal, Director of Advocacy, Community Legal Services, stated. They now number more than 160 individuals who call some portion of Central Florida their home and serve more than 10,000 members across a dozen counties. Cardinal notes that this allows each member to “really understand what those needs are” in each specific community due to their passion and intimate knowledge of their service area.
Their work includes helping low-income individuals and families resolve various civil legal needs that impact people’s day-to-day lives. From landlord-tenant services to consumer services (debt collection) to their “robust” family law unit (helping survivors of domestic violence), CLS provides a wide range of services. During every month of 2026, the organization is “taking a tour” of each of the 12 counties in its service area throughout Central Florida. Next month, they will hold a similar event in Lake County in appreciation of those community members being a part of Community Legal Services’ legacy.
Events like the one held on Saturday are to “elebrate with our community the fact that we have been here providing services for 60 years and that the community itself is really a part of that legacy,” stated Morgan Cardinal. The organization serves Hernando, Pasco, and Citrus counties, among others.
Originally reported by Hernando Sun
Sources: Hernando Sun
