Nearly 15 years after the storm, the toll of Hurricane Katrina continues to plague families and communities in and around New Orleans. Currently, we are working to protect residents devastated by Katrina from whom the state now is unreasonably trying to recoup money it paid to the residents through the Road Home elevation program.

Thousands of homeowners are being penalized for not having elevated their houses, though the funds they received were insufficient to pay for the elevations. So far, our attorneys have defeated one such suit for over $37,000. We have also been able to get relief involving smaller grants of $7,500. We are now working with the state on policy advocacy to minimize the adverse impact on families still adversely impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

As we approach the 15th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the 4th anniversary of the Great Louisiana Flood, which devastated much of Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes, we look to help our communities prepare for future disasters. For example, through our Flood Proof program, we help homeowners clear title to their homes so they can better protect their families from future disasters.

We also participate in several projects throughout our service area to improve coordination of future disaster response between the government, for-profit, and non-profit sectors. And, our executive director, Laura Tuggle participates in the Legal Services Corporation Disaster Task Force and co-chairs its Integrating Civil Legal Aid into Emergency Management Subcommittee. This past October, the committee released its report on how to better integrate civil legal aid into disaster response, recovery, and preparation at the national level.

People who are low-income bear the greatest social, economic, health and environmental costs in the wake of natural disasters. Our supporters are helping to ensure that low-income families are prepared and can access the help they need the next time disaster strikes. We hope you will join our supporters in the fight for fairness today by making a donation at https://slls.org/donations/.

Between 2012 and 2018, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids almost tripled in Louisiana. The impact of the children in our state, though often unseen, is profound. In 2016, 3,728 children were placed in foster care. SLLS is working to address this issue, helping parents heal, and giving children hope of being reunited with their families.

For example, we are helping with the formation of a Family Preservation Court in the 17th JDC (LaFourche Parish). This collaboration between Drug Court, the District Attorney's office, CASA, and other child welfare organizations provides a family-centered approach to help parents access drug rehabilitation services, and help everyone in the family recover from the emotional and psychological damage resulting from the opioid crisis.

Our supporters are helping SLLS respond to the urgent needs of children and families affected by the opioid crisis. We hope you will join our supporters in the fight for fairness today by making a donation at https://slls.org/donations/.

"Jennifer" came to us scared that she was going to lose her home after her landlord served her an eviction notice. Without enough money to move, pay for storage, or get a new apartment, she feared that she was about to lose everything she owned and become homeless.

We discovered that Jennifer's landlord had been charging her illegal monthly fees on top of her rent. So far, Jennifer had paid her landlord 52 times more than her monthly rent in these fees! When she could no longer afford to pay them, her landlord threatened to put her on the street.

Our attorneys defeated the eviction and got Jennifer a refund for all the money she had given her landlord to pay these fees. But we didn't stop there. The landlord owns over 500 rental units. So, we negotiated with the landlord and with the Housing Authority of New Orleans to end the unlawful practice that almost cost Jennifer her home - ensuring the hundreds of low-income families who live in these units will no longer be charged these illegal fees.

Our supporters helped protect both current and future low-income tenants from over $32,000 in fees per month that their landlord was charging them illegally. We hope you will join our supporters in the fight for fairness today by making a donation at https://slls.org/donations/.