I contacted Disability Rights NC, Carolina Place, 3724 National Dr #100, Raleigh, NC 27608 via phone last June I believe in 2016. I am having issues with my physical health and the apartment I am living in has been detrimental to my physical and mental health. For months disability rights attorney and I talked. Later on I also signed their contract. Then Fair Housing filed a discrimination suit Sept 2016 and 10 days later I got a non renewal of lease notice for my apartment of 20 years telling me that my lease would expired Dec. 31st 2016. If I had money would I stay in an apartment that is making me sick??? My disability is mental illness. Upon receiving non renewal notice I began to struggle mentally. I have lived here for 20 years! Because Legal Aid had told me that retaliation was illegal. Fair Housing visited management earlier that year and told them that retaliation would not be tolerated. I believed that they would protect me. They lied to me. They won't protect you either.
I was writing both attorneys and fair housing rep and telling them that I was getting sick again. January 1st I can not pay the non HUD assisted rent. I go to eviction court on January 13th. The other side asked for a continuance until Feb. 7th. In the court house on Jan. 13 both attorneys (disability rights and legal aid) informed me that I was going to be evicted even though I have no money to move. Both attorneys said that yes it is retaliation and they do understand how bad the living conditions are. Then I hear disability rights attorney tell legal aid attorney, "If she is not going to be living there, there isn't anything for me to do." Then we went outside of the courthouse and went our own ways. I didn't hear anything about we will be in touch. I'll talk to you later or anything to cause me to NOT believe that the disability rights attorney was gone for good. Of course legal aid attorney has been ignoring me for months because they all think I should give up my rights that legal aid and fair housing said was my right to do. Such as filing a discrimination suit or contacting a disability rights attorney.
In a major panic and very low blood oxygen I went to find a lawyer and put in my situation trying to get help. As far as I knew I didn't have any attorneys anymore.
A few days later the disability rights attorney called me and told me that she could not help me. She told me that I had talked to someone after she told me not to talk to anyone. I explained that both she and the other attorney gave me the impression that they were dumping me when we were at the courthouse Jan. 13, 2016. She said that we just don't get along...yada, yada, yada. She said that yes I do have a case. But I don't have any money to hire an attorney because I am poor. So I was left high and dry. Abandoned by disability rights of NC. Why? It feels like that they do not want to be bothered representing people with mental health issues. She dumped me knowing that I would not be able to afford an attorney to help me. She did not have any mercy, empathy or real compassion and that was loud and clear to me.
If you have mental health and physical health issues that interfere with your cognitive skills do not call disability rights of NC. They will act like they want to help but really are not going to do a thing to help you. Especially if you "really need" help.
I was thrown under the bus even though I do have a discrimination case that is useless without an attorney to help me.
I have been trying to get legal services on behalf of my son for years. He has been the victim of medicaid fraud, discrimination against him and refusal of care by local hospitals because he is autistic, and denial of an appropriate education. Disability Rights has always refused to help. I believe they choose their cases based on friendship and professional associations and not on the severity of the mistreatment of the handicapped person. I have to go to an administrative hearing alone on my son's behalf. When a mediator called to offer mediation, I told her about the severity of the problems. She recommended her good friend, Jennifer Bills, lead attorney at disability rights and said how much she had helped her with her son. Ms. Bills had a juniot attorney call me, who advised me to take what the provider agency was offering, "because they must be sure they'll prevail at the hearing or they wouldn't be going for one." It is incredible that this attorney did not recognize bullying and posturing on the part of the provider agency in order to save the care dollars my son deserves. A US district court has already ruled against this agency on the very issues in my son's case and still he would not help. He even sent me regulations to back up his suggestion. When I phoned and asked who had written the regulations, he admitted that the provider agency had written them and that Disability Rights had not reviewed them to see if they were consistent with medicaid law.