Strange stories part 1

In this post I will discuss some of the most memorable cases from the last couple weeks working as an intake volunteer.

1)  This one was overall the strangest client I have met in my entire experience.  The client was an older woman (approximately sixty years old).  She claimed she worked as an adult entertainer and found most of her work on craigslist.  In the last couple weeks she said she accepted a job from a man she did not know very well.  The client claimed the man "stole her cherries [ovaries]."  She was adamant that he had been so rough with her that she is missing parts.  When I asked if she had seen a doctor or had any record, she produced a journal of her repeated encounters with this man.  When I relayed this predicament to Ralph, he suggested that I refer her to a domestic violence representative.

2)  Another case involved a male client (also elderly-- approximately 70 years old).  He told me that about a year ago he saw a homeless woman in the parking lot of a department store.  He felt sorry for her and took her home to his house and intended to temporarily give her a place to live.  It was not his intent to have her become a permanent resident.  When he tried to evict her and told her to leave she would refuse.  The client said that he had contacted police but to no avail.  Ralph recommended that he meet with one of our volunteer attorneys.  After a certain amount of time, the woman becomes a legal tenant so evicting her becomes tricky.  I felt like the man did not give me all the details in this case.  In my experience so far, I have found this happens a lot!  I try to give clients a lot of space and freedom to talk and tell their story.  But, in many cases, clients omit details and I only get a narrowly shaded side of the story.

First Day

Today was my first day at legal aid.  I met Ralph Saltus, who is the intake volunteer director.  Ralph has held his position for forty three years!  He has seen a lot of different cases and people coming in for help.  Since it was my first day I was assigned to shadow another volunteer, Luke.  As an intake volunteer, we are required to meet each client warmly with a handshake.  Each volunteer takes his or her client to a private room and closes the door for privacy.  We tell the clients we are volunteers and that the information they tell us is confidential between the volunteer and the supervisor.  After introductions, we tell the client we will be asking them about financial information for eligibility purposes (in order to qualify for legal aid services there are maximum amounts of income allowed for certain size families).  Next, the volunteer discusses what problem brings the client to legal aid.  Once the volunteer feels he or she has gathered sufficient information, the volunteer steps out of the room and brings the sheet of paper with the information to Ralph.  We relay the information to Ralph and he advises what we should do for the client (i.e. set the client up with a volunteer attorney, send them to divorce class, refer them to the modest means program, etc).  At legal aid I had the opportunity to experience all sorts of issues (except for criminal issues- Legal Aid does not help with these).  On my first day I did not see any heart breaking cases.  That would come later.