In the wake of her adult daughter’s sudden death, Margaret* knew she had to be strong despite the heartbreak she felt over losing her child. Her 3 year old granddaughter Sophia, now orphaned with no other family to step in, needed her.
“Margaret” tried to enroll Sophia in Head Start, but could not because she did not have legal custody. Unable to afford childcare, Margaret had to quit her job to take care of Sophia.Then she came to SLLS for help.
SLLS provided Margaret free legal representation to help her quickly obtain legal custody. In addition, Margaret’s SLLS attorney advised her to apply for Kinship Care, a state program that helps some low-income families.
Thanks to supporters like you, Margaret could return to work and get the support she needs to provide her granddaughter a safe, stable, loving home. And Sophia is now in Head Start, getting the early education that kids need to be successful in school and for the rest of her life.
Join our 50 More Years Committee to ensure families like Sophia’s can access the legal aid they need by donating to SLLS this #GiveNOLADay at www.givenola.org/SLLS. Thanks to a generous donor and the folks at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, you’re donation will be more than doubled!
*Names and other information have been changed to protect the identity of our clients.
PLEASE NOTE BEFORE READING: The names of the individuals portrayed in the following series were altered to protect our client’s identities.
Cameron was a high school senior who dreamed of enrolling in LSU and becoming the first college graduate in his family. While his parents lived in Mississippi, Cameron lived with his 23-year-old step-brother in a small apartment in Covington, LA. His parents believed that it was for the best because they could not longer take care of him themselves.
A few months before Cameron moved to Covington, his mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness. While it broke her heart to see Cameron leave her side, she had no other options but to send him away. His father also could not support him – he had lost his job, was depressed, and started abusing drugs.
When Cameron moved to Covington, he was determined to make a better life for himself. He studied hard in school and hoped that his grades would help him get accepted into college. He wanted to make his mother proud.
Unfortunately, life in his new home was far from easy. His step-brother barely made enough for the two of them to survive. Every month, they were forced to choose between having a warm meal to eat or a warm place to sleep. So, Cameron decided he needed to get a job. While still going to school full-time, he started working 40 hours a week.
Cameron still kept hitting roadblocks – he could not access the things he needed on his own because he was a minor. He couldn’t get health insurance. He couldn’t get car insurance to drive his car back and forth to work and school. He couldn’t apply for financial aid for college. He learned that without financial aid, he would have to pay for all of his tuition costs out-of-pocket. Even though he was working, he was barely making ends meet and knew he could never afford to pay the entire college tuition on his own. He felt lost and didn’t know what to do next.
Cameron’s mother encouraged him to get an emancipation so he could access the things he needed on his own. She encouraged him to get legal help. That’s when he turned to Southeast Louisiana Legal Services.
We matched his case with one of our volunteer attorneys and she helped Cameron complete the joint emancipation pleadings. They argued to the court that due to the urgency of his mother’s diminishing health, the judgment should be granted immediately. And they won. Within less than a week, Cameron was emancipated.
Now, Cameron has the legal documents he needs to take ownership of his life. Thanks to the generosity and zealous advocacy of his SLLS Northshore Pro Bono Project attorney, he can access the healthcare, car insurance, and other services he needs. And, most exciting of all, he can build a new future for himself as he launches the next chapter of his life as a college student. He looks forward to earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, so that he can make enough money to support himself and his family.
PLEASE NOTE BEFORE READING: The names and other identifying information of the individuals portrayed were changed to protect our client’s identity.
Because of generous support from people like you, children who are escaping abuse and neglect have a voice in their futures. They have a caring attorney to stand by their side – to fight for them and to help them feel less scared and alone in the courtroom. They have access to health care, education, and other supports they need. One of these children is Emma.
Emma was taken from her family and placed in foster care when she was only five months old. Emma’s foster family quickly fell in love with their new baby girl and wanted to nothing more than to make her their own. But because she was released from the hospital without a birth certificate, she could not be adopted.
SLLS was appointed to represent Emma. We zealously advocated for the court to order records needed to free Emma for adoption. After we got the birth certificate, we stayed on the case, determined to see Emma finally have a permanent home with the family who she loved.
Through our advocacy, the adoption was expedited after we convinced the court that systemic changes were needed so children like Emma could have permanent homes as quickly as possible.
After 1,208 days in the system, because of your support, Emma’s foster family could finally adopt her. Emma couldn’t be happier to be part of a safe, stable, and loving family.