Here at CBS8, we are working
for our community and we
want to share with you how
others are doing the same.
For more than 100 years,
the Legal Aid Society of San Diego
has been pushing for justice for all.
Well, joining me now to talk more about
their mission of Laura and Fernia,
director of the San Diego Eviction Prevention
Collaborative at the Legal Aid Society.
Laura and thank you so much for coming
and joining us here on the forum.
We appreciate your time.
You're welcome.
For people that are not sure
what the Legal Aid Society is and
what it does here in San Diego,
fill in the blanks a little bit.
Sure.
Legal Aid Society of San Diego is
a free law firm here that provides
legal services and representation
and counseling and assistance as well
as outreach and education around
the law to lower income individuals
that reside here in San Diego.
Is it one of those things where people
may need an attorney and realize that
they just don't have the funds for it
and is that where the society steps in
exactly. There are a lot of for example,
in the constitution and we have the right
to a lawyer when we have a criminal case,
but in for a civil case,
for example, housing and education,
healthcare, those kind of areas,
we don't have that right.
So what legally society does is try to
balance it so that we have justice for all.
The sense of giving everybody a
chance at having an attorney in
that legal representation. So
incredibly important,
your specific division,
you are the director of the Sandy
Eviction Prevention Collaborative.
Did that really come into
play during the pandemic?
We heard a lot about renters
rights and the eviction process,
especially during that time.
It really
did because so many people were out of a job,
but they couldn't work because of
the pandemic and all of a sudden
they couldn't pay their rent.
What are they going to do?
So my idea was, and this was at a former job,
is to pull together the resources
that did exist and legal aids,
the biggest one, and to help those prevent
some of those evictions if possible.
And and also to get the word out about
those moratoriums that happened during
the pandemic where people were told,
no, we can't get be evicted right now.
So people needed to know there
were some protections,
There were things that were different
that we wanted to get out to everybody.
Well, thank you for providing,
providing that clarity into our community.
Recently though. The Legal Aid Society
was the recipient of a grant through
SCGN E's Community Assistance Fund.
Tell me a little bit about
that and where the money goes.
Sure. No, thank
you for asking.
The SDG provided money for quite
a few different organizations and
we were lucky to be one of them.
And the idea of this money is
what we call flex funding.
And so flex funding is is was when
people have specific financial
needs that are really going to help
them thrive and and do better.
For example, they might not
have enough money for rent,
they might not have enough money to
pay their utilities or to pay for
groceries or even a medical emergencies.
So what legally does is use us for our
wrap around case management services
and that money is extremely important,
extremely vital to help people lower
income people be able to get on their
feet again and sustain their families.
OK so that's people always ask where is
the money gets spent in great answer.
We appreciate the clarity on that for
people who need help but maybe they
need hope and they need the resources.
Where do they start as far as accessing
the accessing the Legal Aid Society.
Well the website is la SSD org.
So legal Aid Society of sandiego.org.
The phone number I think will be up
on the screen, but basically they can
call in sometimes it is difficult
to get through because we we served
over 21,000 households last year.
We had thousands more than we reached
through clinics and through case
management and through other services.
And basically it's it's a lot
of people that need legal aid.
We've been around for more than 100 years
serving San Diego and we are the biggest.
So we we want to help everyone.
So we always say please keep trying.
We have increased our intake,
we've increased our receptionist,
we've increased everything
to try to meet the need.
So please, that's what I want to
tell people is to just keep trying.
We really do want to help, be persistent.
And that's exactly.
Well, Laura and Fernie,
we do appreciate your time. Thank you.
And thank you for representing the
Legal Aid Society of San Diego.
I want to pass along some
information because perhaps if
you know somebody or even yourself
is looking for these resources,
go right to their website.
It's at the bottom of your screen.
And that's
lassd.org or Anne, Thanks.
Thank you so much.