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Wishing you and your ohana a Happy Holiday Season!
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Mahalo!
Thank you to all the donors who supported the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii on December 3 as part of Give Big Hawaii and #GivingTuesday. The 24-hour online fundraising effort hosted by Honolulu Magazine and the Hawaii Community Foundation helped raise money for non-profit organizations across the state.
Because of your generosity, Legal Aid received $3,985 in online donations, the 4th highest total among a group of nearly 100 non-profit organizations.
Thank you for believing in the work that we do! To end 2019, you can still make a donation online.
Mahalo!
Donna Leong & Robin Uyeshiro
Ryker Wada
Elise Von Dohlen
May Izumi
Jan Kagehiro
Gail Cosgrove
Elijah Yip
Michael Cruise
J. Blaine Rogers
Joyce Fukata
R. & D. Shishido
Jan M. Tamura
Susan Ichinose
Dawn Henry Laird
Brent K.
Jim G.
Kristen Alice
"We all know the challenges faced by our legal service providers, but all those working for Legal Aid should know how much we all appreciate and respect their dedication, competence, and service." -Bob LeClair, Exec. Director, Hawaii Justice Foundation
As part of the Give Big campaign, Legal Aid's Executive Director, Nalani Fujimori Kaina highlighted the court self-help centers as an example of volunteer attorneys providing their time, talents, and resources to uplift the community. A collaborative effort of the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Judiciary, the Hawaii State Bar Association, and the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission, court self-help centers across the state have assisted over 27,000 visitors with volunteer attorneys logging in over 3,600 volunteer hours. Video link below:
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#LegalAidhelps
"
I now have resolve and closure to perhaps a dangerous relationship . . ."
Before I came to Legal Aid I was without legal representation, am disabled, and filing for legal separation from my spouse due to domestic violence problems. I had no financial support other than disability and DHS food stamps $30 a month. My ex had come to court filing divorce, as well as false allegations.
Legal Aid helped me to become organized and focused in my legal goals, mediate with my ex's legal representation, represented me well in court, and also supported me emotionally through a very difficult process.
Because of Legal Aid, I now have resolve and closure to perhaps a dangerous relationship to my health/life.
What I want people to know about Legal Aid is that Ke Akua (God) does work through many people and situations. Legal Aid (Ben) was a huge blessing in my life. I believe I could not have managed as well without such support. -
Jenn was helped by Maui Legal Aid attorney Ben Pittenger to escape a dangerous relationship.
"Before
you
came into the picture I was in financial despair."
"I can't even describe the depth of my gratitude to
you guys. Before
you came into the picture I was in financial despair. I had lost all my life savings between the Valley Fire and the LERZ eruption. I was filing for bankruptcy (I still need to) and I just couldn't get ahead.
The money I now got from FEMA is truly a game-changer for me. It gives me a chance to rebuild my life here.
THANK
YOU!" -
Disaster Legal Services attorney Melissa Goldman assisted the client in receiving rental assistance from FEMA to aid in recovery from the 2018 Kilauea volcanic disaster.
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Calling All Legal Aid Alumni
T
hroughout 2020, Legal Aid will be celebrating 70 years of service in Hawaii. Since it first opened its doors in 1950, hundreds of attorneys, paralegals, law students, volunteers, and board members have all devoted a time in their lives working towards Legal Aid's vision of
Building a Just Society
.
Many went on to pursue different chapters in their professional careers while others have made Legal Aid a career. As we celebrate 70 years of ensuring access to justice for all, we hope to hear from our alumni and honor and celebrate those who have paved the way for Legal Aid to be where it is today. If you spent any time working or volunteering at Legal Aid, p
lease take a short moment to fill out this short survey:
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Oahu
AmeriCorps Conference 2019
AmeriCorps is a nationwide community service program that fosters the spirit of community development and volunteerism across the country. AmeriCorps members throughout the state came together for the Hawaii Volunteer Summit in Honolulu. Legal Aid's
AmeriCorps advocates joined other members in a three day conference that included training sessions and a day of community service.
Honolulu AmeriCorps members Macy and Dominique help with weed abatement activities near
Diamond Head State Park.
Kukui Center Holiday Party
Legal Aid Board President Joseph Boivin joined Legal Aid staff members Tatjana, Leeyannah, and Susan at the Kukui Center Holiday Party and Partnership Appreciation Luncheon.
Thank you to John Clark, William S. Richardson School of Law student extern
John with Dan O'Meara, managing attorney for the Honolulu Housing & Consumer Unit
Thank you to John Clark for spending part of his semester in the Honolulu Bethel office as part of his law school externship. John assisted the Housing & Consumer Unit, the Legal Navigator online portal project, and the disaster legal services. John is completing his last year at the William S. Richardson School of Law.
Legal Aid Holiday Puns
Courtesy of the Fair Housing Unit
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Hilo
Mele Kalikimaka from the Hilo Legal Aid ʻOhana
The Hilo Legal Aid ʻOhana wishes you all a Mele Kalikimaka a me Hauʻoli Makahiki Hou!
Congratulations! GAL of the Year Award
The Children's Law Project of Hawaiʻi, in coordination with the Family Court, presented Hilo Legal Aid staff attorney Jaycee Yamashita with the Guardian Ad Litem ("GAL") of the Year Award at the December 15, 2019 GAL Appreciation Event. The event was attended by GALs, Deputy Attorneys General, parents' counsels, community members, and Judges Darien Nagata and Jeff Hawk and Per Diem Judge Charles Hite.
The GAL of the Year Award was presented to Jaycee by Judges Darien Nagata and Jeff Hawk, along with the Executive Director of the Children's Law Project, Valerie Grab.
DV 101 Training - Civil Remedies for Survivors of DV
Hilo Legal Aid staff members Jaycee and Dalton presented to staff from the Island of Hawaii YMCA on the topic of "Civil Remedies for Victims of Domestic Violence" as part of the DV 101 Training being offered by the Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. YMCA employees often supervise court-ordered visits at the YMCA and were appreciative of the information.
Keolahou Blessing/Grand Opening
Jasmine and Dalton attended the blessing ceremony for the Grand Opening of Keolahou - The Healing Place, at which Legal Aid was acknowledged as a Community Partner. The Hilo Legal Aid office is excited to have Jasmine doing regular outreach at Keolahou, which is an emergency homeless shelter recently established at the old Hilo Memorial Hospital. Keolahou provides emergency shelter and services to men, who make up the greatest portion of those experiencing homelessness on Hawaiʻi Island.
Other Community Partners include Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation, Arc of Hilo, The Food Basket, Hawaiian Community Assets, and Project Vision, which provide an array of services for Keolahou residents, including medical care, job training and placement, financial, legal, insurance enrollment, food supplies, clothing and hygiene services.
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Security Deposits Put Housing Out Of Reach For Some In Hawaii
As housing costs rise, renters have to cut bigger and bigger checks just to get in the door
Ann Albert didn't know how she was going to pay for her security deposit.
After years in a homeless shelter with her three
children, she secured a coveted Housing Choice voucher and found a place willing to rent to her family.
She could make the subsidized monthly rent of $200. Her income from a food service job in Waikiki brought in about $500 to $600 per month.
But the security deposit was the full value of the rent: $1,998. She just didn't have it.
"It was very difficult," she said in Chuukese through a translator at Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. "At that time, I was the only one working and even with my pay, I couldn't afford the first month's rent in addition to the security deposit."
In a state that has
among the highest housing costs
in the nation, the working poor in Hawaii struggle every day not only with the cost of rent but also the cost of just getting in the door.
Ann Albert had a housing voucher but no deposit money.
State law allows security deposits to be of equal value to the rent. So as rents rise faster than wages, renters have to overcome higher and higher obstacles by paying their rent - times two - all at once.
Even if a tenant is supposed to have an old deposit returned to them from the unit they're leaving, landlords have 14 days to return it after the tenant has vacated the property. That means many renters need to put down a fresh security deposit on a new place before they get their old one back - if they get it at all.
A Legal Aid attorney said that it's not uncommon for landlords to keep part or all of a deposit for damages whether they're real or not.
Continue reading . . . .
HOPE Services opens new Hilo shelter for homeless men
By: Hawaii Catholic Herald
An old Hilo hospital is now a new shelter and assessment center for homeless men on the Big Island, run by HOPE Services Hawaii, a non-profit agency affiliated with the Diocese of Honolulu.
The blessing and opening of Keolahou shelter was Nov. 8.
The facility, at 34 Rainbow Drive in Hilo, is the same building as the old Hilo Memorial Hospital, which has changed faces over the years. Most recently it was home to Hawaii Island Adult Care and the University of Hawaii-Hilo Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy. Both moved out earlier this year.
The building will serve people once again, thanks to $2.5 million in Ohana Zone funds from the State of Hawaii.
The shelter opened with 25 cots. It hopes to increase its capacity to 50 in January, depending on whether it can procure all the needed beds and utilities by then.
The former hospital was picked as the location of the Big Island's first Ohana Zone, because of its size, layout and proximity to downtown Hilo.
In 2018, state legislators appropriated $30 million to establish at least three Ohana Zone sites on Oahu, and one each on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai.
Ohana Zones are sites on state and county land designated to provide services for homeless individuals and families and to help them find permanent housing.
At Keolahou, the assessment center will give residents a case manager and other services they need to find affordable housing and to connect them to the support they need to remain housed. Individuals will be able to stay at Keolahou for up to 90 days.
Men make up the greatest proportion of those experiencing homelessness on Hawaii Island.
HOPE Services Hawaii is working in collaboration with Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council, Project Vision, Bay Clinic, Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation, the Food Basket Inc., Arc of Hilo, Hawaiian Community Assets, and Legal Aid Society of Hawaii.
For example, Keolahou's partnership with Bay Clinic, a federally qualified health center serving East Hawaii, will bring medical care on site once or twice a month. Giving participants regular medical checkups will reduce the strain on emergency services.
HOPE already operates other Big Island shelters that serve families, couples and single women.
Last year, 70% of shelter residents who entered a HOPE shelter moved into permanent housing.
The County of Hawaii is planning two additional Ohana Zone sites in Kailua-Kona, which will offer similar services to those in West Hawaii.
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Interested in Joining the Legal Aid Team
Legal Aid Staff Positions Available
The Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, a non-profit law firm, endeavors to provide civil legal services throughout the State of Hawaii to those most in need. Our mission is to address critical legal needs through high quality legal advocacy, outreach and education in the pursuit of fairness and justice. Our team of dedicated advocates come to work every day with a purposeful desire to help and serve our community.
Our organization embraces work life balance by offering our team a structured work week designed to achieve work excellence and ample time off to recharge, refresh and pursue individual passions. We offer an extremely generous benefit package which includes 21 days of vacation, 12 days of sick leave and 14 holidays a year. We are also proud to be the industry leader in offering 8 weeks of fully paid parental leave for qualified employees.
If working in a meaningful and rewarding environment is what you're searching for, and if you have been desiring work life balance, please review the positions and requirements below by visiting www.legalaidhawaii.org.
To apply for a position: Please submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information for three professional references to jobs@legalaidhawaii.org. The Legal Aid Society of Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Employer. No telephone calls please.
- Intake Paralegal- Honolulu, Part-time
- Managing Attorney - Kona, Hawaii
- Immigration Paralegal - Honolulu
- Administrative Assistant - Honolulu
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End of the Year/Decade Giving
As 2019 comes to a close, please consider supporting Legal Aid.
Help us meet our year-end goal to close out this decade of ensuring access to justice for all.
"Legal Aid helped me in so many ways I can't even explain! They have made it so easy for me to be able to move on and do what l need to do for these girls! I am so much at ease now that I can give these girls a life that they deserve! A life they can look forward to!"
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