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COVID-19 – Public Benefits FAQs

Lunch Is Served! As of March 19, 2020, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Governor Abbott declared all schools in Texas temporarily closed. To assist Texas families while schools are closed, meals are available for take-home at no cost to all children through participating school districts.  Visit https://txschools.gov/ to find a food distribution site near you. HISD food distribution sites re-opened […]

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COVID-19 – Consumer FAQs

PRICE GOUGING What if I have been a victim of price gouging? According to a news release published by the Texas Attorney General, “any person or business selling goods must be aware that they are prohibited by law from engaging in price gouging if they unreasonably raise the cost of necessary supplies at any point during a declared disaster,” said […]

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Medicaid and SNAP Benefits Continue for Lone Star Legal Aid Client

Austin, TX – 90 year old retired nurse, Louise Moore, is relieved that her Medicaid and SNAP benefits will continue after office closures prevented her from getting her recertification documents in on time. Ms. Moore worked as a nurse for over 30 years starting Panora General Hospital, then going to Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital before ending her career as a charge […]

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National Consumer Protection, Part 3: Coronavirus Scams

Overview The Coronavirus outbreak is a global pandemic spreading fast causing panic among Americans as the outbreak kills more and more people each day. People are becoming wary of the severity and fear for their lives and the lives of others. Unfortunately, the chaos and disparity circulating the Coronavirus has caused people to fall victim to many scams which result […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Launches Online Intake

Lone Star Legal Aid is available and accepting online applications for all of its offices. We hope that our client community is safe and managing well during these ever-changing and uncertain times. We are continuing to monitor the COVID-19/Coronavirus Pandemic across our service area and Lone Star Legal Aid’s work continues with all operations running virtually. This means we are […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Está Aceptando Solicitudes Por Telefono Para Asistencia Legal En Todas Las Oficinas.

Lone Star Legal Aid está aceptando solicitudes por teléfono para asistencia legal en todas las oficinas. Para solicitar ayuda, llame al 1-800-733-6394. Lone Star Legal Aid está monitoreando de cerca la pandemia de COVID-19 / Coronavirus en nuestra área de servicio de 72 condados. Publicaremos avisos emitidos por líderes estatales y nacionales, agencias gubernamentales y proveedores de recursos en nuestro sitio web […]

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National Consumer Protection, Part 2: Surprise Medical Billing

If you’ve received a surprise bill after a trip to an emergency room you thought would be covered by insurance, it’s a result of something called balanced billing. Balance billing occurs when an insured patient receives care from a physician, hospital or other health care provider, who is not part of a patient’s health plan provider network. The out-of-network provider […]

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March 1st – 7th is the Federal Trade Commission’s National Consumer Protection Week

National Consumer Protection Week is the Federal Trade Commission’s week-long campaign aimed at educating consumers about their rights to help them make well-informed decisions about money.  Lone Star Legal Aid joins the FTC with a consumer-focused blog series to be pushed out throughout the month. Stay tuned to learn about more about: Payday & Title Loans; Reverse Mortgages; Repair Fraud After […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Launches Disaster Assistance and Recovery Tool (DART)

Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid and Pro Bono Net, funded by Rebuild Texas Fund, launched a web-based app that guides disaster-recovery assistance providers and their clients through the process of applying for recovery assistance. The app’s name is “DART,” for Disaster Assistance and Recovery Tool. It’s free and accessible through one of the many organizations partnering with LSLA […]

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February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month which is an issue that not only impact teens, but their families, teachers, friends, and communities. Together we can raise awareness about teen dating violence (TDV) and promote safe, healthy relationships. Understanding what TDV is and what it means for those who are involved is an important first step in prevention. What […]

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Port Arthur Community Action Network (PA-CAN) Settlement with Motiva to Bring Community Benefits for Port Arthur residents

Port Arthur, TX – Port Arthur Community Action Network (PA-CAN) has secured a brighter future for Port Arthur residents through a recent settlement agreement with Motiva Enterprises LLC on the company’s plans to expand its Port Arthur refinery and operations. The resulting agreement was reached on January 21, 2020 after the community group withdrew its permit challenges with the Texas […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid to Host Criminal Record Clearing Clinic for Veterans

Lone Star Legal Aid’s Military Veterans Unit will be hosting a Criminal Record Clearing Clinic on Friday, January 31, 2020, at their office located at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, 2002 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030 in room 4B-249 on the 4th floor. Lone Star Legal Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy on behalf […]

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City of Houston to Host Community Workshops on I-45 Expansion Project

Starting on January 30, 2020, the City of Houston will host a final round of three community workshops to learn more about TxDOT’s North Houston Highway Improvement Project (NHHIP), the proposed expansion of I-45N from downtown to Beltway 8 and changes to downtown-area freeway connections including I-69, I-10 and 288. The City of Houston developed a number of improvements to […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid’s Disaster Relief Unit to Provide Information to Watson Explosion Survivors

Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid will be at the Town Hall being hosted by Counsel Member Amy Peck from District A at 6:30 PM, Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, located at 4703 East Shadowdale Drive, Houston, Texas 77041. The location has been set up as an American Red Cross […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid’s EJ Team to Develop Client-Based Mobile App for Reporting Environmental Concerns

Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid clients will soon be able to report and track their environmental concerns through a new mobile app. LSLA’s Environmental Justice Team, part of the Equitable Development Initiative, proposed this client-based application as a tool that community members will be able to use for reporting and tracking environmental issues that they see and experience […]

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Town Hall Addresses Community Concerns Surrounding Cancer Cluster

On January 21, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee held a Town Hall at Phillis Wheatley High School in Houston’s Fifth Ward, where a recent cancer cluster investigation by the Texas Department of State Health Services found higher than expected rates of cancers of the lung and bronchus, esophagus, and larynx in Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens neighborhoods, with elevated rates of […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid, Combined Arms, and SBP USA Collaborate to Help Veterans in Disaster Recovery

Houston, Texas – Lone Star Legal Aid, a free civil legal aid provider; Combined Arms, a one stop shop for Veterans resources; and SBP USA, a team focused on fortifying people against unnecessary suffering, have joined forces with Bob Woodruff Foundation grant funds to find and refer veterans to one another.  BWF’s key focus areas are education and employment, quality […]

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January 24th – February 1st is Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week & January 25th is Earned Income Credit Awareness Day

Houston, TX – Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week aims to warn the public about tax ID thieves and IRS impostors. Tax identity theft occurs when someone uses your Social Security Number (SSN) to file a phony return and claim your refund. IRS impostors are scammers who pretend they are calling from the IRS claiming you owe taxes and demand immediate […]

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Figuring Out FEMA – Webinar, January 29, 2020

Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid’s Shrushti Kothari, Disaster Relief Unit Staff Attorney, collaborated with Pro Bono Net in their creation of “Figuring Out FEMA,” a project they worked on with Center for Urban Pedagogy and designed by Carmen Lopez. “Figuring Out FEMA” is a pocket-sized visual resource for disaster survivors. The project is part of Center for Urban […]

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