Mary Grace Ferone is integral to Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV) as the Disability Counsel and liaison to the disability community. She has been with LSHV since 1999, and during her tenure, she has worked on complex disability impact cases program-wide, maintained a caseload of social security federal court appeals, and mentored less experienced attorneys in various disability areas. She also provides guidance to the Attorneys in Charge on disability cases and issues. Mary Grace also shares her knowledge and expertise through outreach and community legal education for other non-profits and agencies that provide services to the disability community.
Mary Grace works tirelessly to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and is passionate about ensuring they receive the legal representation they deserve. She collaborates with a coalition of disability practitioners on substantive issues statewide and works to maintain funding for LSHV’s Disability Advocacy Program. Her expertise and commitment to the disability community make her an invaluable member of the LSHV team.
“LSHV is important to our community because we give a voice to marginalized persons,” said Mary Grace. “We are often their only access to the justice system and their last hope to maintain the necessities of living, most importantly shelter and income stability and access.”
Mary Grace’s role models are her parents, who were grateful for what they had, were always willing to help others, and had faith that things would always work out. She also considered Terrence Whelan, her first managing attorney, to be a role model. He showed her the power she had to help clients by using the law creatively. He taught her never to fear an adversary and that if most people (or entities) were against their position, it was because they were doing the right thing!
Outside of work, Mary Grace can be found baking, singing karaoke, or “spending money she doesn’t have at Bloomingdales.” 😊 Her favorite meal is “Feast of the 7 Fishes”, a traditional Italian Christmas Eve meal, and chicken parmesan; she does not like anything with curry. One day, she hopes to visit Paris and drive cross-country in an RV.
