December 13, 2022 by Clarissa Ayala
Legal Aid Providers in Greater Houston Present Unsung Hero Awards to Jen Rice and Elizabeth Trovall of Houston Chronicle
Topic
Press Releases
Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid joined Houston Area Texas Access to Justice Funded organizations on Friday, December 9, 2022, for a Summit on Access to Justice. Presentations were given on the organizations’ work in housing stability, family safety, and immigration issues. The presenters included leaders from our firm, and Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA), Beacon Law, Boat People SOS, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galevston-Houston, Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy, Houston Volunteer Lawyers, South Texas College of Law Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics, Tahirih Justice Center, University of Houston Law Center Clinical Legal Education Program, and YMCA International Services. Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby provided an opening statement.
Dana Karni (LSLA), Ryan Marquez (UH), Maricarmen Dollar (HVL), Kelley L. Austin (ECI), Kim Brown Myles (LSLA), and Justin Thompson (Beacon) spoke on housing stability. Dana spoke about our creation of an Eviction Right to Counsel Initiative within the firm, and our successes in representing tenants at risk of losing their housing. Kim spoke about our fair housing team’s lawsuits against the Department of Housing and Urban Development for tenants facing subpar living conditions. Those lawsuits ultimately led to tenants acquiring decent, safe, and sanitary housing. Reagan Campbell (LSLA), Elizabeth Tran (STCL), and Maisha Colter (AVDA) spoke on family and children’s safety and stability. Reagan explained that roughly half of individuals facing the access to justice gap in Houston-Harris County and the Greater Houston Area usually report a need for help in family law matters. He shared the gratitude we received from a client we helped. Upon receiving a final order in their case, one client said “thank you infinitely for having accepted my case, thank you for these almost 3 years that it took to finalize my divorce. I have no way of repaying you for all your help and support, because without you it would not have been possible to have peace of mind and sustenance for my children and for me, God bless you 🙏 …for not giving up on the first obstacles that arose from the beginning of my divorce process, I know that it was not easy … but that did not make you abandon my case, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. My children and I will be forever grateful to you for your patience and help.” Parker Sheffy (UH), Lubabah Abdullah (Tahirih), Jessica Howton (Tahirih), Vinh Ho (STCL), Elise Griesmyer (CC), and Holly Kuchera (YMCA) spoke on economic and personal stability through immigration legal services.
Legal aid ensures equal justice to all—especially to the poor—so that no one is deprived of equal rights in the eyes of the law or denied access to the court solely because of incapacities, such as poverty.
Our relationship with the media is a vital element of our outreach and legal education efforts. By telling the stories of our clients and our work, we give people the information they need to make better decisions about their lives. Thomas Jefferson once said, “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”
The organizations involved in the summit worked together for weeks to put these presentations together, and in that time, they jointly expressed gratitude for the media. Together, they decided to recognize two journalists for their work in reporting, explaining, and promoting access to justice issues and the legal plight of our low-income clients. The inaugural Unsung Hero Awards were presented to Jen Rice and Elizabeth Trovall of the Houston Chronicle.
Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. LSLA focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety, stability, health, and wellbeing; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, the aging, survivors of crime and disasters, the unemployed and underemployed, the unhoused, those with limited English language skills, and the LGBTQIA+ community. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org
