Media ContactLisa Ramirez, Communications Manager, lramirez@mylegalaid.org
“I was getting medical treatment for a bad leg, but I was in there (a nursing home) a long time. What they were doing for me wasn’t different than what could be done at home. I’d rather be at home…but they wouldn’t let me go.”
“If someone using disability services makes a wrong move, they can be cut off or might owe thousands of dollars in an overpayment,” warns Attorney Anne Robertson. In the case of college student James Lee, that might have kept his college degree out of reach.
“I kept getting denied and it’s so hard to deal with a kid with disabilities when you don’t get help,” Connell says. “It’s so, so stressful. You have to figure out everything and deal with this and that. I didn’t know which way to go, and I was getting doors slammed in my face. My friend told me to try Legal Aid.”
The summer of 2020, when Tilly was almost eight, her parents were told she could not return to school in the fall. Tilly’s Legal Aid lawyer described it as an attempt to create a new policy for students with disabilities. That didn’t fly with Tilly’s parents and it didn’t fly with Legal Aid’s Disability Law Center, either.
At 16, Will was housed in a treatment center with adults who were mentally ill and aggressive. At the same time, he had his own challenges stemming from lifelong trauma. Disability Law Center Advocate, Cindy Jarvi said “For years, Will had virtually zero educational services.” But with her and the law on his side, things were set to change.
Our client needed eye surgery to keep his job. But his job didn’t provide health insurance to get that surgery, so he lost it. Then, he turned to Legal Aid.
In 2011, Legal Aid Attorney Jessica Webster enlisted the help of pro bono attorneys to investigate and document lunch-shaming across the state. Policies ranged from helpful (providing unlimited hot meals) to punitive (blocking students from graduation ceremonies.) Armed with the facts, she asked Minnesota’s Attorney General for help and got it.
They told Vera she might have to move. Her daughter said when they met administrators of the assisted living facility, it was clear they already made the decision. “We were ambushed. Two women stood over my mother, who is a tiny lady, and put her through the wringer.” Then came the eviction letter. Then came Legal Aid.
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