Recently, I had the great opportunity to make a short film about Legal Aid of Marin. This is not your ordinary non-profit. The team at legal aid honestly enjoy coming to work. They love to help others and the people that receive their help think of legal aid as their guardians of justice. I spent many hours interviewing staff attorneys, volunteers, board members, and clients and everybody felt that legal aid made a difference in their lives. They certainly made a difference in my professional and personal lives and I consider them like family. Thank you Legal Aid of Marin.
As an agency that is housed with Legal Aid in the Marin Justice Center, we have had the opportunity to participate in a collaborative process that streamlines access to legal services for everyone. Legal Aid is an integral part of this collaborative. The service they provide to clients is invaluable and their positive impact on the community is immeasurable.
Legal Aid of Marin is doing a great job of working with the community and other non profits and governmental agencies. It is great to see LAM at community events and to see the organization creating new out reach opportunities for all the Marin legal community. Great job to a dedicated staff. It is great to work with you.
I represent another non-profit working with legal aid of marin. They have been very helpful to clients of our organization and have made a difference in the individual and collective recipients of their services. We are also a non-profit in the area and have had a great relationship and outcome from our alliance with them.
About ten years ago LAM guided me through a divorce when I was a single mother, working full-time and going to school to finish my MA. They made the process stress free and secured my child support and a fair settlemlent. More recently LAM helped me file a work-related restraining order to protect employees at our school. I was a nervous wreck through the whole thing and even had to face the individual in front of the court, but LAM held my hand all the way. I have immense respect and gratitude for their quality services.
Our organization has always received great service from LAM. They have helped us advocate for low-income residents of Marin City for many years. Their attorneys are committed to their clients. We are happy to be one of their clients.
Legal Aid of Marin has been my sole and most valueable source for legal counsel in order to fight redevelopment plans by a large out of state real estate investment trust which seeks to turn affordable housing into luxury apartments at rates most current residents will not be able to requalify for. LAM has been responsive to my inquiries and have come to the site to explain legal matters to fellow residents. While I have given what I can afford to LAM for their counsel and time, I feel strongly that money has not been a condition for my receiving needed counsel and support. Even a paid attorney - if I could afford one - might not be as responsive to this client and his fellow tenants in their fight for fair treatment for being forced out of their apartment homes.
Having served on the board of directors of Legal Aid of Marin for over 5 years, I knew what a diverse group of people....ranging from the elderly to the young children...that we serve in our community. However, it was not until I got involved with one of our clients recently that I better understood from the heart what a difference Legal Aid of Marin makes in just one life. My LAM client is a relatively young man and his ailing mother. He is a new dad, with his second baby mama. He used to be in prison, for assorted bad acts (drugs, theft). Now he has found Allah, and has set his own life on a better path. His mother, who is only 9 years older than my 50 years, has been in an assisted nursing facility for quite some time, following hip and other surgeries. The facility has neglected her, perhaps since she is on medicare, and failed to turn her. Now she has very painful and grotesque bedsores that are infected on her bottom, so she can't lay in bed in a comfortable position. She has a catheter, and moans in constant pain. I met both of them in the hospital, where she has been transferred. Not only am I helping them with an elder abuse case, I am a support system for her son, who has no where to turn. He doesn't understand the medical system, so I am meeting with the social worker, to communicate with him. My own daughter had a very serious hospitalization around the same time, so I can empathize with his plight, and he doesn't have my resources or understanding of how to navigate the medical system. While I am only able to provide some insight, I feel that my connection through Legal Aid with my client has made a dramatic difference to a family in my community that is in need of basic support on a very real, and human level. Debra Bogaards (you may use my name)