“We are truly honored to receive this award from Lawyers Clearinghouse. We so appreciate that our colleagues, who fight for justice every day, recognize that poverty can prevent positive outcomes. This is especially true in the juvenile court and child welfare systems.
People often assume that the resources needed to help underserved children are already available, but they often are not. So that is what we do. We provide urgently needed resources that are not otherwise available, so that all children in the system can improve difficult lives and achieve better futures.”
– Anne Bader-Martin, Executive Director, One Can Help
Created in honor of longtime Lawyers Clearinghouse board member Josephine McNeil, the McNeil Community Impact Award celebrates those in our community who are, like Josephine, committed to serving others, changing lives, and fighting for a better future. We are proud to recognize Josephine’s decades of advocacy through this award, and grateful for the 27 years she spent on our board.
We’re excited to highlight One Can Help, the recipient of our 2026 Josephine A. McNeil Community Impact Award!
Lawyers Clearinghouse staff chose to honor One Can Help in recognition of their work over the past 20 years to connect children and families in the juvenile court system with the vital individualized resources they need to move forward.
In 2005, juvenile court attorney Anne Bader-Martin was meeting with a 16-year-old client at a very crowded Dunkin’ to talk about the client’s new pregnancy.
The teenager, who had grown up in foster care, knew two things: she was going to keep this baby, and she wanted a particular stroller she’d seen in a magazine—so much so that she tore out the advertisement and brought the page to their meeting.
As Anne tried to ground her in reality and help her assess how she planned to care for her baby, the girl kept asking about the stroller because it represented her vision of ideal motherhood.
Then Anne felt a tap on her shoulder. An older man who had overheard the conversation held out a check for $175. “Buy her the stroller,” he said. The teen started to cry.
“I realized then that if only people could see who I worked with, they’d want to help,” Anne said. “That really was the moment. But they rarely see these children and families because these cases take place behind closed doors.”
A year later, and with the assistance of some colleagues, Anne formed One Can Help, a nonprofit that funds urgently needed resources for juvenile court-involved children and families across Massachusetts who are living in poverty.
Through Lawyers Clearinghouse’s Nonprofit Legal Referral Program and Access to Justice Fellows Program, attorneys like Access to Justice Fellows Gail Hupper and Diane Gardener have helped One Can Help strengthen its governance and assess its board structure and financial policies, ensuring that the organization can sustain its growth.
Now, celebrating its 20th anniversary, One Can Help has grown into a statewide organization that focuses on meeting practical, immediate needs that can meaningfully impact the lives of children and families. From rent support to laptops and school supplies, the organization meets people where they are, filling gaps that other systems often ignore.
For Anne, who began practicing law in 1992, One Can Help is designed to “improve difficult lives, help build better futures, advance equity and justice, and make the system work.”
Over two decades, One Can Help has provided more than $2 million in resources to support over 30,000 children and families. A 2019 Boston University study estimated that its work saved the Commonwealth between $9 and $11 million in a single year by reducing days in foster care, shelter stays, and unnecessary court dates.
“We’re filling a gap that’s not otherwise filled,” Anne said.
Anne often returns to a line from anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Head to the One Can Help website to learn more.
We look forward to celebrating the work of One Can Help at our upcoming 38th Annual Meeting, where we’ll also recognize Nolan Leadership Honorees Moddie Turay and Leslie Reid of MHIC and Pro Bono Excellence Awardee Goulston & Storrs.
