Pace Women's Justice Center moves to new building

A clinic that offers free legal services to victims of abuse is now getting a new home in White Plains that will also help the clinic reach more immigrants.
Patti Reyes D'agostino found help at the Pace Women's Justice Center as she filed for a protection order. Now she's giving back by becoming a bilingual paralegal at the center's walk-in clinic, which provides free legal services to victims of domestic violence, elder abuse and sexual assault.
The clinic recently moved into a larger 4,000-square-foot space.
"We want people to be able to have legal representation so that they know what their legal rights are," says executive director Cindy Kanusher.
The center serves about 3,000 clients a year. By moving to the new building, it hopes to increase the number of people it helps by 20 percent.
The center also has offices at family courts, but Kanusher says undocumented immigrants enduring abuse fear going to those offices because of their legal status.
"It's very important for us that we are opening this new clinic in a safe environment," she says.
The center's grand opening is next Friday.
More than 12,000 incidents of domestic violence are reported to police annually in Westchester.