In 2014, committee members Mark Davidson, Seattle, WA, Jennifer Roeper, Tampa, FL, David Soley, Portland, ME, and Kelli Thompson, Knoxville, TN, established legal clinics in homeless shelters in their respective cities under the Section’s Homeless Experience Legal Protection (HELP) initiative. Volunteer lawyers visit shelters to provide pro bono legal advice to the residents, often with input from other volunteer lawyers with expertise in landlord-tenant, identification, housing, social security and other public benefits, employment, immigration, family law, and criminal law issues. In many cases the volunteers continue to represent their clients in subsequent negotiations or court cases. Many of the shelter residents have been able to secure employment or housing or both once their legal problems have been resolved.
This year, committee members John Strasburger, Houston, TX, Robert Will, St. Louis, MO, and Bart Greenwald, Louisville, KY, have been establishing HELP programs in their cities.
If you are interested in establishing a HELP program in your city, feel free to contact any one of these volunteers.