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Lone Star Legal Aid’s Conroe Office Helps Tenant Avoid Unjust Eviction

Jane Fields was a tenant at the same apartment complex for eleven years. Like most Texans, she was unprepared for the obstacles the pandemic created, and often, she felt like she was a paycheck away from homelessness. Remaining hopeful, she eventually obtained assistance from Texas Rent Relief, which sent money for past due rent directly to her landlord. These funds […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Helps Air Force Veteran Obtain Unemployment Benefits, Including Back Pay

Janelle Grant, a US Air Force Veteran, ended her duty and started working at a medical temp agency shortly thereafter. Ms. Grant had to take a leave of absence due to medical conditions complicating her pregnancy. Her employers knew of her pregnancy and its induced medical conditions. Once she was back at work, she was sent out on a brief […]

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LSLA Helps UH Students Move Out of Neglected House

Like most college students, Janet and her friends sought affordable housing near the University of Houston to alleviate the financial and mental stress of being commuters. The four ladies found a house near campus rented by a private landlord and excitedly signed a one-year lease. However, within months of moving in, the maintenance requests had begun to pile up. The […]

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FACES OF EVICTION AND HEALTH CARE: Family Illegally Locked out of Home and in Need for Health Benefits

Gregory, a Houston father, contracted COVID-19 and then his family’s life took a turn for the worst. Gregory lost his job due to contracting the virus, his landlord illegally locked the entire family of their home for not being able to come up with enough money to pay the rent, and they had no medical coverage. Gregory could not work […]

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LSLA Submits Appeal after Father Forced to Wait Over Eighty Days for Nutritional Benefits

Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has 30 days to act on a client’s SNAP benefits application and 45 days to act on Medicaid cases. Jack was referred to Lone Star Legal Aid by BakerRipley and needed SNAP benefits for a household of four people. Jack submitted an initial SNAP application on February 8, 2022, and after 80 days, […]

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Crime Victims’ Rights Week – Survivor Projects and Resources at Lone Star Legal Aid

Crime Victims’ Rights Week is an annual week-long campaign in April that celebrates the accomplishments of the victim’ rights movement. According to the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), “National Crime Victims’ Rights Week has challenged the nation to confront and remove barriers to achieving justice for all victims of crime.”   This year’s theme is rights, access, equity, for […]

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Domestic Abuse and Stalking – The Advice

Being verbally and physically abused is a difficult affliction to tolerate. Being stalked and not knowing when your stalker just might show up is even worse. It causes fear and takes a mental toll on the survivor. For Cody, it was just that. Cody met Delilah in high school, but their romantic affairs did not take off until they reunited […]

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LSLA Helps Disabled Mother Claim Economic Impact and Advanced Child Tax Credit Payments

41 year old Kate Chavez is physically disabled and receives Social Security Disability (“SSD”). In many cases, individuals who receive SSD are not required to file an income tax return. The amount they receive determines whether they have to file. The amount of Kate’s SSD fell under the reporting threshold, and it wasn’t necessary for her to file. When she […]

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LSLA Reduced Property Taxes, and Obtained Medical Coverage and SNAP for 92 Year Old Veteran of WWII and the Korean War

Chester Robey is a 92 year old veteran of both WWII and the Korean War. He is mostly blind, mostly deaf, and has Parkinson’s, which makes it difficult for him to walk and write. His only income is Social Security, and he relies on the assistance of a neighbor to help him get around. Mr. Robey contacted our Military and […]

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LSLA Helps Single Mother of Disabled Child Obtain SNAP Benefits

Cheryl Wilson is a single mother of an eight-year-old disabled daughter. She works 21 hours per week while her daughter is in school. Her daughter receives Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits because of her disability. To help with the cost of food for her family, Cheryl applied for SNAP benefits. Since she was only working 21 hours, and SNAP applicants […]

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Teen Dating Violence – Walking on Eggshells

Walking on eggshells around your abusive partner can be terrifying, especially when you are constantly threatened and assaulted. Kaitlyn was just a teenager when her boyfriend began violent tendencies. When Peter was 23, he met 19-year-old Kaitlyn. Soon thereafter, she became his girlfriend, and then she became pregnant with his child. Early on in their relationship, she learned that if […]

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Connecting TX Kids to Coverage Project Successfully Appeals for Client Denied Children’s Medicaid After Siblings were Approved

11 year old Abby Jones was denied Children’s Medicaid benefits while her three siblings were approved. Her father had applied for Medicaid benefits for his four children. The reason given for denying her was that the family was determined to be over income. This was obviously an error.  Abby’s father contacted the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) multiple […]

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Williams Spreads Christmas Cheer To Family Starting Over

Houston, TX – Local natural gas company Williams of the Galleria Area has sponsored one of Lone Star Legal Aid’s clients with all the furnishings for a new apartment. December is the National Season of Giving, and Williams contacted us to find out if they could sponsor one of our clients.  We connected them with Blanca Correa, a crime survivor […]

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Domestic Violence and Arson – A Man with a Fiery Temper

It wasn’t unusual for the police to arrive at Cynthia’s home in the middle of the day, however this time, they expected to find her dead. They always came and checked on her and warned her to never leave her house at night. Cynthia was a victim of domestic violence for two years until she got a divorce from her […]

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Identity Theft – Financial Eligibility & Identity Restored

Doctors diagnosed Joseph with Progressive Glaucoma, which is an eye condition that causes damage to the optic nerve resulting in permanent vision loss. He was told his eyesight would gradually fade over several years until he was blind, but little did he know he would be involved in an accident that would dramatically change his life sooner than he thought. […]

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Healthcare – Coverage by Medical Neccessity

Mary’s insurance denied her the coverage she needed to keep seeking treatment and surgeries for the genetic illness that she was diagnosed with when she was born. Von Hipple Landau (VHL) is a type of cancer that causes malignant tumors to form in multiple organs of the body which initiated her permanent blindness in 2007. She also experiences numbness, weaknesses […]

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Lone Star Legal Aid Appeals HHSC Decision to Deny Children Medical Benefits

A mother applied her two children for Children’s Medicaid six months before reaching out to Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA), but Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC) denied her because in their system, the two children had foster care insurance.   The mother informed Paralegal Cristina Palacios, that the children have not been in foster care for over a year. She […]

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LSLA Military & Veterans Unit Represents Caring Uncle in Custody Case

Devoted uncle Justin Gillis became involved in a court action with his sister’s children. Their mother and father lost legal and custodial rights in New York City due to several allegations of neglect and abuse. Thus, a New York order placed the children with Mr. Gillis’ mother; the court order allowed the parents visitation rights at the discretion and under […]

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LSLA Reverses Decision for a Child Denied Medical Benefits

Eulise, uncle to Jose, became Jose’s caretaker in February while still receiving Medicaid and SNAP benefits under the parent’s household. The uncle, Eulise, reapplied for Jose’s Medicaid Benefits, disclosing he was the caretaker of the child, and was then denied benefits. At thirteen, Jose lived with his father for a while until he contracted Covid-19 in 2020, and then they […]

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