This week, when people call to inquire about our Legal Clinic for the Homeless and CORI Sealing Clinics, they will hear a new voice on the phone: that of incoming Legal Clinic Manager Sean Thekkeparayil, who has taken over the position from Mosunmola Ojo.
A 2019 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, Sean previously worked for the City of Boston’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity, conducting intakes and performing investigations into potential fair housing violations.
Sean said he was drawn to the position of Legal Clinic Manager because he enjoys connecting with people and wanted to take on a more active role in helping others access justice. Mosunmola, who is relocating with her family to upstate New York, echoed these sentiments, saying forming connections was one of her favorite parts of the job over the past year.
“I loved interacting with clients,” she said. “It’s so important for people to be heard.”
Fostering a sense of connection has always been a key part of our Legal Clinic program, which has traditionally operated directly within local homeless shelters, enabling volunteer attorneys to meet face to face with people, listen to them, and assess their legal matters. And while COVID-19 has changed how we run the program, which is now functioning remotely, the need for connection and assistance remains.
Over the coming months, Sean plans to work with our shelter and law firm partners to continue to adapt clinic services to meet this need head on, especially as housing and legal services organizations brace for an expected wave of evictions when the state eviction moratorium ends in August. He also hopes to expand outreach efforts to reach more potential underserved clients–especially within Greater Boston’s Asian community–and is looking into creating new resources for volunteers.
Sean kicked off his new role over the past couple weeks by co-hosting a virtual Legal Clinic to assist people using services at the Medeiros Center Shelter and by conducting client intakes at our first virtual CORI Sealing Clinic. He plans to schedule several additional CORI Sealing Clinics over the summer.
Mosunmola is certain that Sean will be a great asset to the Clearinghouse and to the clients he works with. She said as he settles into the role, he will find himself growing as a lawyer and gaining more confidence, just as she did over the past year.
Once her family is settled in New York, Mosunmola said she would like to find a new legal services job. Perhaps one where she can specialize in benefits law—a newfound area of interest she gained while running the Legal Clinic. In the meantime, though, she plans to focus on building her cake business and growing her already-impressive skills as a baker and cake decorator (skills that we greatly appreciated as her taste-testing co-workers!)
And when Sean isn’t coordinating clinics and conducting intakes with clients, he can be found reading Indian history books, studying Hindi, and watching “so bad they’re good” movies. While there’s no cake involved, we’re still happy and excited to have him on board.
Welcome, Sean! And thank you, Mosunmola, for a wonderful year!
