Legal Action Helps Veterans and Older Adults with their Specific Legal Needs
Written by: Legal Action of Wisconsin
Legal Action of Wisconsin clients are ordinary people facing a multitude of challenges few of us could handle on our own. Our clients come from different racial, ethnic, and age groups, and live in rural, suburban, and urban areas. We work with specific populations, addressing their unique needs, like veterans and seniors.
Veterans
In partnership with the Center for Veterans’ Issues and the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ Supportive Services for Veterans Families Program, we help veterans and their families with issues related to housing, benefits, drivers and occupational licenses, consumer law, and child support. We also help veterans with other issues on a case-by-case basis.
Veterans have many civil legal needs, including accessing the benefits made available to them for serving our country. Unfortunately, these great programs can be difficult to navigate and without legal help, and some veterans may slip through the cracks and spiral into poverty despite the resources available to them. For example, a hard working veteran and father was referred to us by a veterans agency. He was a heavy equipment engineer operator until the pandemic affected his work. As he started to fall behind on bills, he tried making partial mortgage payments, but the bank would not accept them. Even though he eventually found full time contractor work, he had fallen into significant arrears and thought he would never be able to catch up. While a veterans agency helped him with other services, we were able to have an attorney review his case and determine his qualified for a program to help people just like him. We helped him secure a grant and represented him in the foreclosure case. After the funds were received, the foreclosure was dismissed, the bank was made whole, and a hard working father and veteran was able to stay in his home and benefit from the programs designed to help people just like him.
Another veteran and former client shared: “Not only is my attorney great at what she does, she is warm and funny. Legal Action attorneys have gone above and beyond. This pandemic has set up the perfect storm for many: isolation, fear, health. Your help plays an important role in vets’ lives, like mine. Instead of looking at me and my struggles with homelessness and addiction as a negative, they treated me kindly, lovingly, caringly, and professionally. They changed my outlook and got me on my feet. Thank you. You saved a life. You helped me keep my benefits and help protect housing in a system that is often one-sided. Thank you!”
Older Adults
Our Elder Rights Project serves Wisconsin residents ages 60 and older with civil legal needs and other support services following abuse or victimization from other crimes. Through SeniorLAW, we provide free legal services to Milwaukee County residents ages 60 and older assisting with issues related to benefits, medical assistance and care, housing, and abuse.
When older adults discover the people meant to be caring for them are actually taking advantage of them, they may not know where to turn. For example, a woman whose family was supposed to be working together to help care for her and pay her bills, were actually stealing money from her and scamming her into signing for purchases, like a car, that left her in collections. We assigned the case to an attorney who was able to determine which issues we could legally pursue. In the end, we were able to show the family scamming her that someone else is looking out for her now, and they could no longer take advantage of her. We recovered purchases, like the car, that she was able to sell, and helped her take back control of her finances and life.
If you have a civil legal problem, please reach out to Legal Action to see if we can help.