9/11 Zadroga Project
On January 4, 2011 President Obama signed the Zadroga 9-11 Comprehensive Health Care Bill into law. The lead-up to the signing featured testimonials from rescue workers who suffered horrible debilitating injuries during the clean-up effort and did not receive proper compensation from the government . The benefits of the law, however, go far beyond the most severely affected First Responders. They include Transit workers, volunteers and laborers who hauled away trash, community residents who returned to their homes and tried to lead normal lives, and students who returned to school and later got sick.
A4J petitioned the government to have Chinatown and parts of Brooklyn included in the 9/11 affected zone. It also launched its Zadroga Project in an effort to reach out broadly to the affected community – workers involved in the rescue and clean-up; residents of Lower Manhattan and Chinatown, who witnessed the events and lived for months in a toxic dust cloud; and students who attended school in the disaster area even though it was unsafe. It was our belief that many in this group would fail, due to language barriers or lack of resources, to avail themselves of the opportunity to seek medical assistance or to apply for 9/11 benefits without the involvement of a public interest based educational effort, and a community based effort to encourage broad participation.
A4J has a team of public-interest minded lawyers to assist people through the Zadroga benefit application process.
A4J petitioned the government to have Chinatown and parts of Brooklyn included in the 9/11 affected zone. It also launched its Zadroga Project in an effort to reach out broadly to the affected community – workers involved in the rescue and clean-up; residents of Lower Manhattan and Chinatown, who witnessed the events and lived for months in a toxic dust cloud; and students who attended school in the disaster area even though it was unsafe. It was our belief that many in this group would fail, due to language barriers or lack of resources, to avail themselves of the opportunity to seek medical assistance or to apply for 9/11 benefits without the involvement of a public interest based educational effort, and a community based effort to encourage broad participation.
A4J has a team of public-interest minded lawyers to assist people through the Zadroga benefit application process.