Legal Aid Of Western Ohio Inc

Programs: Legal aid of western ohio, inc. (lawo) is a non-profit regional law firm that provides high quality legal assistance in civil matters to help eligible low-income individuals and groups in western ohio achieve self-reliance, and equal justice and economic opportunity. Lawo is the law firm for low-income individuals and families - those who have nowhere else to turn for legal assistance. Our mission is to help our clients, using our skills as lawyers and advocates, to achieve self-reliance, equal justice, and economic opportunity; in essence, to help them build a better life for themselves and their families. When we accomplish our mission, as we often do, we literally help people pull themselves out of poverty and achieve independence. We exist because low-income individuals, like everyone else in our society, need lawyers. Lawyers can provide vital assistance to low-income persons as they encounter and seek to overcome serious, sometimes life threatening, challenges and obstacles. Lawo represents clients in several areas of law, including domestic violence and other family-law related issues; housing, including issues surrounding public housing and housing conditions; access to government benefits; debt collection defense and bankruptcy; consumer fraud issues; education and employment; human trafficking; and the legal problems that agricultural workers, veterans, the homeless, and senior citizens face. Each year lawo's experienced staff of attorneys, paralegals, and support personnel provide high quality legal assistance to thousands of low-income individuals and groups throughout 32 counties in northwest and west central ohio and to agricultural workers throughout ohio. We have offices located in dayton, defiance, findlay, lima, sandusky, springfield, and toledo. We meet the legal needs of our clients working in conjunction with our partner law firm, advocates for basic legal equality, inc. (able). In 2016, lawo and able received 17,008 requests for help, worked on 9,052 cases, and closed 6,286 cases, benefitting 10,177 persons. The services we provided benefited children, seniors, veterans, persons with disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, victims of human trafficking, persons without health insurance, families facing the loss of housing, homeless children and families, children struggling to secure a decent education, persons who have mental health issues, and agricultural workers, among others. Our attorneys and other advocates work in areas that private attorneys usually do not, including representation of tenants, domestic violence survivors, and persons seeking government assistance. What we do is important to all members of the community. We provide powerful solutions to critical societal issues. Through our efforts, millions of dollars are returned to the community or saved for our clients. We conserve valuable community resources by addressing issues before they become a crisis and work with other non-profit service providers to provide a holistic approach to advocacy for low-income individuals and families. Together lawo and able constitute the largest provider of free, comprehensive civil legal assistance to low-income persons in ohio. Nearly 25% of ohio's poverty population lives in our 32 county service area. Lawo also serves agricultural workers throughout the state. Our administrative offices and headquarters are located in toledo at the center for equal justice.