CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Nonprofit Spotlight: Houma-based group provides legal services to low-income veterans

The Courier - 5/9/2021

May 8—The COVID-19 Veterans Legal Advocacy Project provides help to low-income veterans and their families with a variety of legal matters.

The Courier and Daily Comet asked the Houma-based nonprofit's staff attorney, Isobel Healy, to tell us about its services. Edited answers to our questions follow.

The COVID-19 Veterans Legal Advocacy Project provides free legal help to low-income veterans and their families on civil legal matters including discharge upgrades, VA benefits, unemployment benefits, housing, divorce, child custody, taxes and more.

During times of crises, veterans and their families are often the first to volunteer to help others and the last to ask for help. Civil legal aid is critical to helping low-income veterans and their families improve their lives, especially in times of crisis. Veterans often have multiple legal problems at the same time, like qualifying for VA health benefits, accessing unemployment compensation and obtaining fair housing. As the long-term economic impacts of the pandemic continue, we expect to see an increase in veterans seeking legal help for evictions, foreclosures and bankruptcies.

During the height of the pandemic, we received a phone call from the daughter of an elderly Army veteran who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. A hospice nurse had just arrived at the family home to help support the veteran and his family. The veteran's daughter was understandably overwhelmed, upset and scrambling to help her dad get his affairs in order.

Although the veteran lived less than ten miles from our office in Houma, his age and his illnesses made him especially vulnerable to COVID-19 exposure and transmission. We conducted a phone interview with the veteran to assess his legal needs. He wanted to grant his daughter power of attorney so she would have the legal authority to make both financial and health-care decisions on his behalf.

During our conversation, we learned that the veteran served in the Army during the Korean War, that he and his wife had been married for over 60 years and that they had seven children.

The veteran and his family did not have the means to seek a private lawyer to assist them with his power of attorney, an important and time-sensitive service. We quickly prepared the necessary documents so that the power of attorney could be completed at the veteran's home. We went the extra mile to bring our services to this veteran's doorstep to ensure that his wishes for his financial and medical care would be honored and to give his trusted daughter and family peace of mind.

Overall, our requests for legal assistance have increased by almost 20% across all legal problem types, with dramatic spikes in requests for legal help with evictions and unemployment compensation cases.

As people have lost their jobs or had their income reduced because of the pandemic, we have seen an almost 300% increase in new requests for legal help with evictions and an astounding 2,000% spike in people seeking our help to obtain or appeal a denial of unemployment compensation benefits.

We define "veteran" as anyone who served on active duty in any job capacity while a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard active components or of the National Guard or Reserves. Veterans up to age 59 must have income at or below federal poverty guidelines, be a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident and have a civil legal need within our case acceptance criteria. Veterans 60 or older may be able to qualify for free legal services even if they are not low-income through special elderly legal services in partnership with local Councils on Aging.

Our staff attorney will host walk-in legal clinics for veterans at Start Corporation, 137 New Orleans Boulevard, Houma, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.May 7, June 4, and July 9. We require clinic participants to submit to body temperature screenings and wear face coverings for the duration of their visit to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

To apply for legal services, call our Veterans Helpline at 1 (855) 207-9429 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. You can also apply on our website, slls.org.

The project is funded entirely through the Bob Woodruff Foundation and supports one full-time staff attorney.

Because of the spike in demand for legal services, we are most in need of financial donations. People can donate online at slls.org/donations or contact Laura Tuggle, executive director, at (504) 529-1000, ext. 270.

We are always in need of attorneys to volunteer to assist in providing free legal help to veterans. We also engage volunteer students and other community volunteers to the extent possible in our work. Prospective volunteers may contact Becca Rubenstein, our volunteer coordinator, at volunteer@slls.org or (504) 529-1000, ext. 230.

___

(c)2021 The Houma Courier, La.

Visit The Houma Courier, La. at www.houmatoday.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.