Good Call is a 24/7 hotline that connects New York residents to attorneys for free. News 12’s Phill Taitt spoke with the founder, Jelani Anglin, to learn more about the impact he hopes to make.

When Anglin was 16 years old, he and a group of friends were arrested for hoping subway carts.

“We had no idea what was going on,” he said. “They asked us questions. Where we were, where we are going, what are the items we had on us. We had no idea how to answer or what to do.”

In 2016, Anglin founded Good Call in the hopes of helping people in similar situations.

“What we're able to do is disrupt the system that is old and antiquated and still uses paperwork,” he said. “With Good Call being able to connect folks to legal support, we're changing people’s life trajectory immensely by just utilizing technology.”

Aramis Guzman, who is now an ambassador for Good Call, says the resource was very helpful to him when a loved one was arrested back in January.

“I was able to call Good Call when a family member got arrested. Someone picked up within 30 seconds,” he said. “They told me she was going to be able to see the lawyer and when she did, she should be able to be released. I'm extremely thankful for that.”

Jason Clark, legal director at Good Call, oversees lawyers on their team and helps keep family members up to date on the legal process.

“We are proud and fortunate that a lot of folks are interested and want to help. But obviously we have to do more,” he said. “There were 5 million people arrested over the past year. There's more work that needs to be done.”