I Had No Idea

by Donna Peel, ED Donate HERE.

I could have entitled this, "Are There no Workhouses?" as I, like Ebeneezer, truly believed that there was a safety net in place for anyone who needed legal aid. If not, the need could not be that important. I had no idea.

I had no idea that:

• legal aid often is about human rights--keeping someone in their home, staying safe from violence, or maintaining family unity;

• when you don’t have your home, safety, or family unity, your problems greatly compound and children are often involved;

• there is no government safety net for civil legal aid;

• having a “free” lawyer means waiting--waiting in lines, waiting on the phone, waiting in court;

• if you have an hourly-wage job, waiting is not free;

• the thousands of people in Illinois who go without a lawyer are confronted by a system that is not built for them to navigate, it's built for lawyers;

• judges, although compassionate and devastated, cannot guide those without a lawyer in their representation of themselves;

• we are failing so many people by not providing them with representation;

• this failing fails our taxpayers because it costs them more in social services, incarceration, and other areas when a family cannot live in a home, live in safety, etc.

• this failing fails all of those who did so much to create and defend this country and its ideals, one of which is justice for all.

I also had no idea how many people knew about this and deeply cared. Cared enough to support Pro Bono Network, an organization that simply tries to increase the number of people who can have a lawyer. It is not bound by who it helps, the legal issue, or where the person lives in Illinois. It will work with any agency who is able to accommodate its many volunteers.

The 7th graders in this photo are holding their personal copy of the U.S. Constitution. I love teaching about it as a PBN volunteer and love working towards its ideals.

Blessings for every one. Right?