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VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY

VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY. Campbell County Board of Supervisors. VLAS Mission. To resolve serious legal problems of low-income people To promote economic and family stability To reduce poverty through effective legal assistance To champion equal justice. Virginia Legal Aid Society is.

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VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY

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  1. VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY Campbell County Board of Supervisors

  2. VLAS Mission • To resolve serious legal problems of low-income people • To promote economic and family stability • To reduce poverty through effective legal assistance • To champion equal justice

  3. Virginia Legal Aid Society is • a non-profit law firm that provides free legal information, advice and representation in civil cases to low-income individuals and families.

  4. Virginia Legal Aid Society uses • legal skills to solve problems in health care, public benefits, housing, family relations, wills & powers of attorney, education, consumer transactions and jobs and job training.

  5. Virginia Legal Aid Society has • for more than twenty-five years, been the only institutional provider of such services in Central, Southside and Western Tidewater Virginia.

  6. VLAS Office Locations • Danville • Emporia • Farmville • Lynchburg • Suffolk

  7. Lynchburg Office Staff • Jeremy White, Managing Attorney • Hope Townes, Staff Attorney • Matthew Ingraham, Staff Attorney • Addison Dalton, LawLine Paralegal • Bernice Thomlinson, LawLine Paralegal • Beth Laverty, Pro Bono Coordinator • Gloria Robinson, Chief Secretary

  8. Income • Clients must have incomes below 125% of the federal poverty level (for example, $20,750 for a family of three) in most cases.

  9. FY 2005/06 Case Statistics for Campbell County residents • Closed 203 cases; and • Improved conditions for 548 men, women, and children.

  10. Our work • Helps parents obtain income support, custody and visitation for their children and ensures those children grow up in a safe and healthy environment;

  11. Our work • Helps elderly men and women obtain health care and purchase medicine; and • Helps people with limited education and income avoid illegal or fraudulent sales schemes.

  12. LawLine • VLAS is helping many more clients since we implemented LawLine, our new intake-and-advice system, in May 2005. • LawLine offers new callers on their first telephone contact with VLAS: • Legal advice; • Referral to a local legal aid office for extended representation; or • Referral to other providers.

  13. LawLine • During the fiscal year ended on June 30, 2006, VLAS has helped more than twice as many people as were helped in the prior fiscal year.

  14. Clients Served • Thanks to our implementation of LawLine in 2005, VLAS can now give legal advice or a referral to most people who need it.  Clients needing extended service, like document drafting, negotiation, representation before an administrative agency, or representation in court, are not so fortunate.

  15. Reductions in Staffing • VLAS now has only ten lawyers and three paralegals to give extended help to a population of over 125,000 low-income people.  In 1980, we had thirty-three such advocates, and in 1990, we had twenty-two. Grants from our major funding sources do not generally keep up with inflation, so new donations every year are critically important to us.

  16. VLASResources • We do not charge our clients any fee, so we must rely on other sources of funding for our income.

  17. Declining Funding • Beginning in 2003, VLAS lost $110,000 in annual state and federal funding due to changes in poverty population distribution. • In 2004, VLAS lost $59,000 due to a sharp downturn in Interest On Lawyers Trust Account revenue, the closing of Mecklenburg United Way, and reductions in local government funding.

  18. Declining Funding • As a result, we closed our Halifax office, terminated two employees, and reduced hours for three others. • In 2006-07, we will receive an increase in IOLTA and state funds, but not enough to offset those losses.

  19. Private Funding VLAS must therefore continue to increase and diversify its funding from: • Local foundations; • Local governments; • United Way; • Special events; and • Individuals.

  20. Amelia County Amherst County Buckingham County Campbell County City of Emporia City of Franklin City of Lynchburg Pittsylvania County Prince Edward County Southampton County City of Suffolk Local Government Funding 2005/06

  21. Working together, • we can solve basic problems and improve the quality of life for low-income individuals and families.

  22. Questions? Thank You Rhonda J. Knight Director of Development Virginia Legal Aid Society 434-455-3085

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