What is the 1217 Project?

The 1217 project is a four year legal and financial literacy initiative.  It is designed to promote individual self sufficiency and disrupt the trend toward intergenerational poverty in Springfield’s Zone One.  It extends legal access and information through a series of workshops which comprise the four programming spokes.  

• Annual  nonprofit workshops for organizations working to improve the lives of Zone One residents
• Annual workshops for faith leaders with congregations fewer than 200 located in Zone One
• Quarterly public workshops focusing on issues impacting family stability, (housing, debt, employment, criminal forgiveness)
• Kids workshops: Legal Beagle Book Club, simultaneous to the public workshops in lieu of childcare, to introduce concepts that are building blocks for legal and financial literacy.

What does this have to do with Charter of the Forest?   The Charter of the Forest was enacted in 1217.  Two years after Magna Carta with far less fanfare, but a far greater vision.  Where Magna Carta extended rights from King to Barons, Charter of the Forest extended rights to the common man. 

In honor of the 800th anniversary of Charter of the Forest, the 1217 project aspires to increase legal and financial literacy in Springfield’s Zone One, assisting 800 individuals in their efforts toward sustainable economic independence.