Hey everybody,
Just before the campaign kick-off, I got to visit Legal Aid, and I met with Laura Rule and Deb House over there. Legal Aid works to make sure the elderly, victims of domestic violence and low-income families receive civil legal assistance. They believe that legal services should be available to everyone – even those with little income.
They really are serving a need in Blount County, and I really like that they've got local attorneys that are donating their time. I think partnerships are the way to make things happen. Ya' know we could just pour money at something, but getting the buy-in of the legal community and having them be a part of that is great. And partnerships with Haven House and the Public Defender's Office are good, too, so that they can get the word out there and get people referred to Legal Aid.
And these folks at Legal Aid are doing this as a public service. They could make much more as an attorney in the private sector, but they've decided this is their calling, so my hat's off to them for doing what they think is right. I'm a firm believer that if you do the right thing, it all works out in the end. And I believe they're doing the right thing.
One thing that really blows my mind is if they're in court defending someone else, and they happen to hear about a case that's going on where Legal Aid could help, they're not allowed to approach that person and tell them they could help. Legal Aid is not allowed to solicit in the courtroom.
That doesn't make sense to me. If they hear about someone in need, they ought to be able to reach out to them. Yeah, there needs to be laws and provisions and guidelines for that type of thing, but still, we need to have common sense. Of course, I was glad to hear that sometimes the judge will refer those folks to Legal Aid. That's important. People that use Legal Aid need the help. They really, really need it. And we gotta' do what we can to make sure they get those services they need.
Well, y'all have a good weekend.
Blog you later,
Dave Bennett
P.S. We had a campaign report meeting this meeting, and so far, we've raised $797,089 – 37% of our goal! Good work, y'all! Keep it going!
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This is United Way Campaign Chair Dave Bennett, and welcome to my blog. When the folks at United Way and the communications committee asked me to do this blog, I said sure, but I had one question - What’s a blog? Sounds to me like I needed to say, “Bless you!” I’m not too up on this computer stuff, but they told me what it was and here I am. So I’m gonna’ blog you my thoughts as we visit each community partner. Doesn’t sound legal, but Sandra promised it was okay. So here goes.
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