Posted November 9, 20172:34 pm
With Veterans Day approaching, Legal Aid recognizes the sacrificial service of our Armed Forces and salutes these brave women and men for serving our country.
Legal Aid is acutely aware of the barriers many service men and women face when returning home – finding their safety, shelter or financial stability no longer there. For this reason, Legal Aid places a special emphasis on helping low-income U.S. Veterans to prevent civil legal issues from escalating.
Over the past year, Legal Aid has worked to produce tangible results for nearly 1,000 veterans and their family members in consumer, family, employment, education, public benefits, landlord-tenant, foreclosure and health law cases. Through nearly 600 cases, Legal Aid
- Secured access to health insurance or subsidized housing in 100% of cases;
- Increased safety in 100% of cases;
- Prevented 90% of evictions and 57% of foreclosures; and
- Removed barriers to education in 100% of cases.
In addition to these successful case outcomes, Legal Aid was able to secure assets, reduce debt and increase annual income for veteran families by a combined $581,862.
We couldn’t meet these needs without the generous financial support of the Cuyahoga County Council and the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation and the steadfast pro bono support of McDonald Hopkins. Whether helping a young National Guardswoman and mother secure quality affordable housing near her children’s school, or securing justice for elderly veterans whose apartment complex had imposed unlawful requirements on them, Legal Aid provides critically needed counsel where and when veterans need it.