Jacksonville Bar Association attorneys assist homeless on journey to self reliance.

Members of the Jacksonville Bar Association have raised the bar in their efforts to assist the indigent--those who are homeless and often can not afford shelter or food.

Once a month, members of the Jacksonville Bar Association and the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid conduct free legal clinics at the I. M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless. To date, over 300 guests have received free legal assistance since the program started a year and a half ago. Sometimes that one-on-one consultation is the impetus in an individual's path from dependency to self reliance.

"Numerous individuals who are currently guests at the Sulzbacher Center are in many ways no different than you or I except they have recently hit a rough patch in their lives and lack the knowledge or the financial means to obtain counsel," said attorney Alan Pickert who is the project's co-chair. "It is amazing to find out how many times these individuals' rights, liberties, and entitlements have been taken away from them due to current unfortunate situations."

Attorneys Pickert and Sarah Fowler of Jacksonville Legal Aid are the driving forces behind the project's success. Held the third Tuesday of each month, bar members provide free legal advice on an array of topics such landlord-tenant disputes, employee compensation, child support enforcement and other law-related topics.

Each session includes a minimum of four attorneys, two attorneys who specialize in general litigation, a family law attorney, and a public defender. Fowler and Pickert participate each month while the other roster of volunteer attorneys rotate monthly. In most instances, the attorney's advice is sufficient in resolving the individual's issues or problems. However, if a situation can not be resolved, the case is referred to Legal Aid staff or pro bono attorneys for further follow up.

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