HISTORY
In 2010, the foreclosure crisis continued to impact families across the United States. This real estate "pandemic" was particularly devastating for minorities, senior citizens, and other economically vulnerable members of the population. People were trying to save their homes and needed answers to real estate questions and access to available resources.
In response, Florise R. Neville-Ewell (Founder), a real estate lawyer and law professor, along with passionate law students at the Western Michigan University-Thomas M. Cooley Law School (Co-Founders), established the first student chapter of the 10CORE Law Society (10CORE), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Thereafter, passionate students at Detroit Mercy Law School also contributed.
Essentially, 10CORE filled the void and established a mechanism through which law students coordinated programming, often bilingual, so that volunteer lawyers and real estate professionals could educate the homeless, tenants, homeowners, the foreclosed, veterans, the disabled, and the elderly, among others.
To empower the public and provide "access to justice through legal literacy," 10CORE collaborated with a myriad of organizations and individuals from the American Bar Association Coalition on Racial and Ethnic Justice, the National and Hispanic Bar Associations, Detroit Legal Aid and Defender Association, AARP, Habitat for Humanity, the Detroit Public Library, the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, the Detroit Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, and the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Michigan, among others.
In 2018, 10CORE expanded its platform to empower youth and young adults through its "Self, Wealth, Achieving Greatness" (S.W.A.G.) Program (initially taught at the Inkster Public Housing Projects and River Rouge High School in Michigan). Known as "CEOs" in the classroom, student "CEOs" actively engage in a curriculum designed to provide them with "housing literacy."
The 10CORE S.W.A.G. Program is creating a new normal. Given its dedication to creating stronger communities in the future, 10CORE is planting seeds now by empowering youth and young adults. They will not only have the ability to "dream" about changing their trajectories, they will also have the tools to fulfill them.
As a result of its work primarily in Michigan, but also in Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, 10CORE has received recognition internationally and nationally. In 2010, the International Bar Association acknowledged it as being an "innovative legal assistance program." In 2012, the Hague nominated it for its "Innovative Justice Award."
Since its inception, the community has celebrated 10CORE's contributions through awards and recognition given to its Founder. For example, in 2013 and 2020, respectively, Professor Neville-Ewell received the "Wade Hampton McCree, Jr. Award for the Advancement of Social Justice" from the Federal Bar Association in the Eastern District of Michigan and an "Outstanding Woman Lawyer/Hidden Figure" nomination from the National Bar Association Women Lawyer’s Division, among others.
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