When a client calls Legal Aid, the first person they may speak to is Penny Gooden. A Willoughby Hills resident, Ms. Gooden has worked as an intake specialist -- keeping the frontlines of Legal Aid calm and upbeat -- since 1976.
In all that time, she and all the intake specialists have heard so many stories from people who need a lawyer. Some cases stick with her: she r
ecalls one specific case from early in her career involving a single mother and her fight to maintain custody over her young children. Sometimes senior citizens call the office needing an attorney to protect their homes from foreclosure or to defend themselves from unfair eviction.
Even in tense situations, Ms. Gooden has a way of calming clients who come to Legal Aid as a last resort, and she makes everyone feel welcome and comfortable.
As an intake specialist, Ms. Gooden is the first to determine - under supervision of an attorney - whether the individuals applying for Legal Aid are financially eligible, and she gathers the facts of the case to determine whether Legal Aid can help. Sadly, because of a lack of resources, Ms. Gooden and her colleagues spend much of their day turning away about half of the people who call Legal Aid for help.
“It is sometimes hard to avoid a personal connection to a client’s situation, especially for me: Clients who are single mothers work their hardest to do right by their children,” says the mother of two grown children. “I think about what I would want others to say if I were in the client’s shoes,” she says with compassion. “Sometimes the best thing is to lean in for a hug.”