Page 13 - annual report 2017 final

12
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services 2017 Annual Report

Ensuring Access to Education and Family Stability

When Ms. M.’s daughter died, she took over caring for
her young granddaughter. Ms. M., an elderly widow,
planned to enroll her 3-year-old granddaughter in a
Head Start Program in the fall of 2017. To her surprise,
Ms. M. could not enroll her granddaughter since she did
not have legal custody. She lived on a fixed income
from Social Security and knew she could not afford to
pay an attorney. The school told her about the new
SLLS Access to Justice Center in St. Charles Parish.

Ms. M. sought our assistance. We worked with Ms. M.
to file legal tutorship documents in court which allowed
her to enroll the child in school, to file for Kinship Care assistance through the State, and to consent to
medical care. Now Ms. M. and her granddaughter have a more stable life. We are happy to report that
Head Start is a hit and that the family obtained an additional $222 per month to help support the minor child
through Kinship Care.

Saving Families from Homelessness

Making ends meet had been a struggle ever since Ms. S became
disabled and she split from her husband. She made sure to always
pay her rent so that there would always be a roof over her and her
son’s head even if she had to do without other items. Just before
Christmas, Ms. S got an eviction notice to appear in front of the
Justice of the Peace. She couldn’t understand why because she
paid the rent on the trailer and the lot she leased from the property
owner. She feared becoming homeless over the holidays.

The property owner claimed she never got the rent from July 2017 even though it was now December
2017. Ms. S. still had money order stubs that she had timely mailed to the address provided by the
landlord. According to the money order company, the money orders were cashed. Not knowing where to
turn for help, Ms. S. was referred to SLLS from the Access to Justice Center. We represented Ms. S. at the
eviction hearing and were able to prove she had paid the rent. We defeated this unjust eviction and Ms. S.
and her family were able to keep their home for the holiday.

2017 Annual Report