Okaloosa County BOCC — August 4, 2015 — annualreport2013(1) — reading text

we are challenged with continuing to provide hope and justice while Jack L. McLean, Jr. funds continue to shrink and numbers of eligible residents rise. But there is always hope. Liza Park With careful planning we have money in reserves to meet the projected deficit in 2014. I John Radey am proud to lead this organization of committed attorneys, staff, board members, donors Glenda Thornton and volunteers. Each day they strive to make sure we don’t have to turn a child away be- Steven J. Uhlfelder cause we don’t have the staff to help. Each day they work to tell a grandmother that she Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda can keep her home. Each day their expertise helps a victim get an injunction to protect Frank Williams her from her abuser. With your continued help we can continue to ensure fairness in the Elizabeth “Bib” Willis justice system for all citizens, regardless of their income and resources. Gary Yordon For up-to-date information about the endowment go to: www.hopejusticeforall.org "As this nation has allowed a great separation in the economic for- To leave a lasting legacy, place tunes of its citizens, I realize that, without access to legal services, LSNF in your will. For more there is very real risk that more people will slip into poverty." information on planned giving, contact Mary Dekle at 850-701 -3313 or by email at mary@lsnf.org. - Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, President Emeritus, Florida State University 3  Giving Hope Through Services Clients receiving services are 67 percent female, 33 percent male, 57 percent white, 37 percent African-American, and 4 percent Hispanic. Below are the types of cases handled by CLIENT STATISTICS LSNF. Legal Services of North Florida, Inc. is grateful to the many indi- Consumer viduals and organizations that <-1% 1% enabled us to provide representa- Education tion to 7,202 clients during 2013. 1% 8% < 1% 7% 4% Employment Family 23% Juvenile Area of Law Clients Served Health 34% Housing Consumer 481 16% 4% Inc. Maint. Indiv. Rgts. Education 15 -1% 3% Misc. Employment 295 Family 2,404 Juvenile 317 Health 195 Housing 1,183 Income Maintenance 1,659 Individual Rights 69 Miscellaneous 584 Financial Benefits for LSNF Clients and Service Area ___________ __________ TOTAL 7,202 Benefits Back Awards Monthly Annual Total Monthly Annual Benefits Social Security: $66,909 $8,672 $104,064 $170,973 Child Support: $17,908 $13,940 $167,280 $185,188 Alimony: $176,192 $1,628 $19,536 $195,728 Unemployment: $2,400 $28,800 $28,800 Reduced Tax Liability: $406,542 $406,542 Tax Awards: $43,041 $43,041 Oil Spill Claims: $558,323 $558,323 Totals $1,268,915 $26,640 $319,680 $1,588,595 4 Director of Litigation - Scott Manion Our clients come to us with a variety of problems both large and small. They not only seek immediate resolution of their legal trouble, but hope for a better future. Whether we are saving their homes or rebuilding broken families, each client’s case is as im- portant as the next. A look at some of our work sheds light on what we are all about and pays tribute to our talented and dedicated legal staff and volunteers. In 2013 LSNF served 7,202 people – these are a few of their stories (all names are fictitious): HOPE - Preventing Homelessness REVERSE MORTGAGE: Ms. Watkins worked for the county school system most of her adult life until her health failed to a point that she could no longer work. Like many seniors she had a fixed income, rising medical costs and now no supplemental income from her job. As bills mounted, she eventually received a notice from her bank that they were about to foreclose on her property. After repeated attempts to contact the lender to discuss her circumstances failed, she reached out to Legal Services. LSNF attorneys were soon negotiating with banking officials to save Ms. Watkins’ home. While the bank rejected any offer of a loan modification, LSNF discovered Ms. Watkins had substantial enough equity in her home to qualify for a reverse mortgage. With LSNF’s insistence, her reverse mortgage application was approved. The fear of losing her home behind her, Ms. Watkins is focusing on her health, family and friends. FORECLOSURE: Sargent Eric Roberts was honorably discharged after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ever since his return stateside he struggled to maintain a All the great things are simple, and job. At the same time, he and his family no longer had his service income and his son many can be expressed in a single was diagnosed with a severe physical disability, ultimately preventing him and his wife from seeking full-time employment. With a new focus on the health concerns of their word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, son, the Roberts family got further and further behind on their mortgage. When the mercy, hope. foreclosure paperwork arrived at the house, Sgt. Roberts recalled seeing a LSNF bro- chure on the topic of foreclosure at a recent veteran’s support group meeting. Soon - Winston Churchill he was in contact with one of LSNF’s senior attorneys who immediately appeared as his attorney on the foreclosure case at an emergency hearing, helped him get into the Flor- ida Hardest Hit Mortgage Payment Assistance program and eventually negotiated with the lender to dismiss the foreclosure. LSNF’s legal intervention provided an essential delay in the foreclosure proceedings permitting Mr. Roberts to get a good job and a promise of making timely mortgage payments which ultimately led to dismissal of the foreclosure and the saving of another family’s home by LSNF attorneys. JUSTICE - Protecting Consumers OIL SPILL: It may seem like a long Court Supervised Settlement Program. time since the BP oil spill. Still, for many The $15,000 payout was in no way of LSNF’s clients it has been many enough to fully compensate Julian for his months and sometimes years of jobless- losses, yet he was able to pay down some ness, related civil disputes, miles of red old debts and move to a safer neighbor- tape and ever mounting frustration. hood. There are also many client victories. Julian, for example, had been trying to get BANKRUPTCY: A single mother and restitution for his economic losses yet his a LSNF client had her car destroyed in a claims were getting denied over and over fire. She had no replacement for the car again. Julian estimated his loss to be that carried her 100 miles each day to $15,000 in lost wages that he nor his her only job. LSNF had already filed for employer were ever able to make up. Chapter 7 bankruptcy for her and quickly When LSNF attorneys took on the case, arranged for the woman to obtain the an appeal was immediately filed and sub- insurance proceeds for the car. LSNF sequently dismissed at the same time the attorneys convinced the bankruptcy trus- Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) tee to exempt the proceeds from the closed. Not taking no for an answer, bankruptcy proceedings. This permitted LSNF attorneys used another legal strate- our client to purchase another vehicle in gy that finally worked. In this case it in- enough time to prevent her from losing volved filing Julian’s Individual Economic her job. Loss Claim with the Deepwater Horizon 5  FOR ALL - Protecting Families DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: Unfortu- told deputies he was in south Florida. BRANCH OFFICES nately, this is a common story among Jessica recommended that the sheriff’s most clients assisted by LSNF’s expert office go directly to his current employer team of domestic violence attorneys. in town. He was there and was served. Jessica’s former boyfriend used an old LSNF attorneys represented Jessica in key to break into her apartment at 1:00 court