Florida Rural Legal Services Inc

Programs: Florida rural legal services, inc. (frls) is a nonprofit public interest law firm founded initially in 1966 for the purpose of providing legal assistance to low income individuals, elderly persons, and migrant farmworkers. Frls provided legal assistance to over 7,000 people in 2017. Frls also provided over 20,000 persons with information regarding their legal rights. We provide these services with a staff of 73 employees including 29 attorneys from 8 offices located throughout charlotte, desoto, glades, hardee, hendry, highlands, indian river, lee, martin, okeechobee, polk, palm beach, and st. Lucie counties. Frls services area is the size of the state of maryland with over 400,000 low-income individuals eligible for our services. Frls provides legal assistance to individuals and communities in the areas of consumer, education, employment, domestic relations, domestic violence, housing, individual rights, and public benefits. In 2017, frls provided additional services related to foreclosure and consumer matters under to a grant from the florida attorney general arising from a settlement involving irregularities in mortgage servicing and foreclosures, and began to offer expanded services to victims of crime. Frls provides legal services for persons over 60 in 12 of our 13 counties served. Advocates resolved issues that are unique to elderly persons such as medicaid issues, medicare issues, and also assisted our elder clients with end of life preparation documents such as living wills, durable powers of attorney, and health care surrogates. We assisted elderly clients who have been victims of consumer fraud, and housing scams designed to prey on elder persons. We fought the premature institutionalization of many seniors by providing legal mechanisms to help them to remain as independent as possible. Frls takes pride in its specialty unit of attorneys, paralegals and support staff available to assist migrant workers with legal issues throughout the state of florida. The unit provides assistance to workers with reference to matters such as wage and hour claims and unemployment benefits.