A message from Patrick M. Cicero, PLAN Executive Director:

Dear friends and colleagues:
 
I hope this finds you well. Thank you for all that you do each day to support PLAN’s work on behalf of vulnerable Pennsylvanians. As we adjust to life as it has been altered by COVID-19, we have had to make some difficult decisions about when it will be safe to offer in-person trainings or celebrations including our annual Statewide Conference and Excellence Awards. The safety of PLAN program staff, clients, and guests at our in person events is very important to us.  As such, after much discussion, thought, and input from different groups within the PLAN Network we have decided that, due to restrictions from the ongoing pandemic, we will not be able to safely hold an in-person PLAN Statewide Conference this year.  We will, however, be offering a series of virtual trainings, virtual speakers and virtual law group meetings during the months of September and October, 2020.  More details about these offerings will be available in the coming months.  While we are disappointed that we won’t be gathering in person in September 2020 (and plan to gather in person in 2021), we are excited about the flexibility that this virtual format will provide. We have already engaged the Statewide Planning Committee to help us envision this virtual event and will be soliciting input and proposals from the field about training needs.  Please look for update emails shortly for more information.

Unfortunately, we have also concluded that we do not believe that we can safely have the Excellence Awards dinner in September this year. This is disappointing to us and I am sure to you as well. We are committed to honoring our 2020 Excellence Award winners and so we have decided that we will be honoring all 2020 Excellence Award winners, and our Outstanding Leadership Award winner, at our awards dinner in 2021. We will not be selecting a new slate of award winners for 2021, but will use that dinner to honor our 2020 awardees and celebrate our community’s collective response in tackling COVID-19. The 2021 dinner is scheduled for March 23, 2021 at the Hilton in Harrisburg. Please put this on your calendars. I am pleased to confirm that Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht has agreed to be our speaker for our 2021 dinner.

If you are a sponsor, contributor, advertiser, or have bought a ticket to the 2020 Awards Dinner you should have already received a separate email from me about your refund options. If you have not received this email, please reach out to me directly. 

I am sorry that we are not able to gather in person as a PLAN community this fall either for our conference or to host our dinner, but delighted that we will get to do so in 2021! Again, thank you for all that you do to support PLAN and our programs! Be well. Take care of yourself and others.

Best regards,

Patrick

Patrick M. Cicero, Esq.
Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network
118 Locust Street |Harrisburg, PA 17101
(717) 710-3822 (direct dial)
(717) 576-2588 (mobile)
(717) 233-4088 (fax)
pcicero@palegalaid.net 
www.palegalaid.net