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Community Leaders Urge Port Houston, Army Corps of Engineers To Conduct More Testing, Relocate Toxic Sediment from Ship Channel Expansion

Contacts: Clarissa Ayala, cayala@lonestarlegal.org, 832-627-8404 Riikka Pohjankoski, riikka@airalliancehouston.org, 713-589-7079 Allyn West, awest@edf.org, 713-724-1810 MEDIA ADVISORY: (Houston, TX, June 15, 2023) — Concerned with the health and environmental risks connected to Port Houston’s $1 billion expansion of the Houston Ship Channel, known as Project 11, Healthy Port Communities Coalition representatives and legal and scientific experts will gather for a day of […]

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Years Later, A Few More Affordable Apartments

If you’re living in “affordable housing,” you’re probably surrounded by poverty. It’s not supposed to be this way. When the poorest people are crowded in the least hospitable neighborhoods, it results in a lower standard of living. Ideally, subsidized housing would be constructed in areas with fewer poor people and less racial concentration. When developers try to build affordable housing […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Secures Groundbreaking Environmental Justice Settlement for Super Neighborhood 48 in Collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice

Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is pleased to announce a significant environmental justice settlement achieved in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on behalf of Super Neighborhood 48, encompassing Trinity Gardens and Houston Gardens. This groundbreaking agreement is a major step forward in protecting underserved communities and their rights to a healthy and sustainable environment. Super Neighborhood 48’s […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Shifts Focus: Leaving Twitter to Explore New Community Engagement Strategies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 8, 2023 Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid, the third largest provider of free legal aid in Texas, has decided to discontinue its presence on Twitter and shift its focus towards exploring alternative methods of reaching and engaging with the community it serves. After careful consideration and evaluation of our communication strategies, we recognize […]

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The City of Houston has Proclaimed April 25th as Sandra Small Day

Houston, Texas – The City of Houston’s Council Member, Leticia Plummer, hosted the Fifth Ward Cancer Cluster Collaborative Summit from April 24th through the 27th. The summit included a community sites tour, press conference, townhall, a proclamation in honor of IMPACT Greater Fifth Ward and advocate Sandra Small, and community breakout sessions with environmental and community leaders. IMPACT Greater Fifth […]

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ITC Community Prep Session – Monday May 1st at 6 PM

The Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) is seeking a renewal of a Federal Operating Permit (FOP) from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for the Deer Park Terminal, where a hazardous chemical fire occurred in 2019. To discuss the permit application, a Public Hearing will be held on May 4th at 7 PM at the Gaines Mason Auditorium, also known […]

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Medicaid MUST be Renewed in 2023

UPDATE – To ensure all Medicaid recipients who received renewal packets in April have at least 30 days to respond, as required by federal guidelines, HHSC has extended the deadline to return renewal packets from May 8 to May 15. Attention Medicaid recipients: CONTINUOUS COVID MEDICAID ENDED  YOU MUST FILL OUT RECERTIFICATION PACKETS OR YOUR MEDICAID WILL BE CUT OFF. WATCH […]

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Rent and Utility Assistance Available through Texas Rent Relief March 14-28, 2023

UPDATE 📢 The rental assistance events planned for this Saturday have been cancelled as the Texas Rent Relief program is closing its application portal today, Thursday, March 16th, at 11:59 PM. Again, today is the last day for tenants to apply for rent and utility assistance.   Houston, TX – The Texas Rent Relief Program will be accepting new applications.  […]

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The Supreme Court of Texas’ Issues Additional Emergency Order Regarding COVID-19

March 1, 2023 For Immediate Release Houston, TX – The Supreme Court of Texas issued an additional Emergency Order, the fourteenth such order related to sealing and making eviction court records confidential. Eviction record sealing is key to improving housing security for millions of individuals and families. Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) has been instrumental in getting these cases sealed. […]

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DHS Agrees to Review Complaint Against City of Freeport, TX and Port Freeport for Title VI Violations of the Civil Rights Act

Updated February 15, 2023 Freeport, TX – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is evaluating the complaint submitted by Lone Star Legal Aid on behalf of residents living in the East End of Freeport, Texas in November 2017. The administrative complaint alleges violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Set to Present in Human Trafficking Awareness Bus Tour

Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid will join Children at Risk for an educational bus tour generously co-sponsored by Houston Young Lawyers Association and Vinson & Elkins LLP on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 2900 Weslayan St. Ste 400, Houston, TX 77027. This tour and discussion aim to help expose the realities of domestic minor sex trafficking, labor trafficking, […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid’s Eviction Right to Counsel Initiative will spread the love on Valentine’s Day at Harris County JP – 5, 1

Houston, TX – Lone Star Legal Aid’s Eviction Right to Counsel Initiative will spread the love on Valentine’s Day at Harris County Justice of the Peace – Precinct 5, Place 1.  Currently, there are over 500 eviction cases set for trial in Harris County JP 5-1. Attorneys in our Eviction Right to Counsel Initiative will be on site all day […]

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Free Legal Assistance Available for Low-Income Individuals Affected by Severe Weather in Southeast Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 30, 2023 Contact: Lowell Brown | Communications Director, State Bar of Texas | (512) 427-1713 | LBrown@texasbar.com  Contact: Clarissa Ayala | Communications Director, Lone Star Legal Aid | (832) 627-8404 | Cayala@lonestarlegal.org  Free legal resources are available to low-income individuals affected by the January 24, 2023, tornado and torrential rain in the Southeast Houston, Pasadena, and Deer Park areas.  Disaster […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Offers Free Legal Help to Survivors of Pasadena/Deer Park Tornado

Pasadena, Texas – Lone Star Legal Aid is available to low-income individuals who suffered wind damage and other conditions caused by the powerful cold front that caused tornadoes and torrential rain in the Southeast Houston, Pasadena, and Deer Park areas on Tuesday, January 24, 2023. An EF3 tornado tore through Southeast Houston and the surrounding area earlier this week, causing […]

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Lawsuit Challenges Approval of Sea Port Oil Terminal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 19, 2023 Contact: Courtney Naquin, Sierra Club, (512) 661-1285, courtney.naquin@sierraclub.org, Devorah Ancel, Sierra Club, (415) 845-7847, devorah.ancel@sierraclub.org Lauren Parker, Center for Biological Diversity, (202) 868-1008, lparker@biologicaldiversity.org Joanie Steinhaus, Turtle Island Restoration Network, (409) 795-8426, joanie@tirn.net Dustin Renaud, Earthjustice, (228) 209-2194, drenaud@earthjustice.org Clarissa Ayala, Lone Star Legal Aid, (832)627-8404, cayala@lonestarlegal.org Massive Gulf Coast Deepwater Oil Export Terminal […]

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Source: https://thefacts.com/news/department-of-transportation-marks-the-spot-oil-project-set-for-gulf-exports-clears-federal-hurdle/article_20dd19dd-91a5-59fc-9584-8dbf22d00459.html

Lone Star Legal Aid Receives Bob Woodruff Foundation Veterans Disaster Grant

Houston, Texas – Lone Star Legal Aid is one of thirty-four organizations to receive a 2022 Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) Fall Grant. We are proud to accept this contribution towards our work to provide free civil legal services to Veterans, service members, and their families.   The BWF grants support programs that: Increase accessibility to high-quality, evidence-based mental healthcare to […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid’s Galveston Office Has Moved

Galveston, TX – January 11, 2023 – Our Galveston office moved from Market Street to 123 25th Street, Suite 4020, Galveston, TX 77550 on January 1, 2023.  Our new office is located in Shearn Moody Plaza, formerly the Old Santa Fe Union Station, home of the Galveston Railroad Museum, and an anchor point at the close of the Historic Downtown […]

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Legal Aid Providers in Greater Houston Present Unsung Hero Awards to Jen Rice and Elizabeth Trovall of Houston Chronicle

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, […]

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November 7-11th is Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week 2022

Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week is an annual celebration of our services to Veterans. Texas has the second-highest population of veterans in the nation. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ annual survey of homeless and formerly homeless Veterans, legal issues account for five of the top 10 unmet needs of homeless Veterans. Obtaining access to free legal services can […]

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