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Refugee, Immigrant, and Migrant Services
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| Bilingual and bicultural staff provide services to legal problems affecting low-income families: citizenship, immigration, family reunification, consumer, and other problems. |
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Education Law Advocacy Project
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| The Education Law Advocacy Project provides legal representation and advice on a wide range of education related problems to low income children at risk. The project assists families on problems such as low academic achievement; denial of appropriate educational services to children with disabilities, children with limited English proficiency, and children facing homelessness; frequent school suspensions; expulsion; and discrimination in schools. The project utilizes a collaborative approach in seeking enforcement of clients' educational rights, with emphasis on conciliation, mediation and relevant complaint procedures. ELAP is funded by The Saint Paul Foundation, The St. Paul Companies, and SMRLS' Campaign for Legal aid. |
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Farm Law Program
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| A state funded program providing assistance to low-income farm families who are faced with the prospect of losing their homestead. Advocates in the Mankato, Rochester, and Worthington offices participate in this Program. |
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Homeless Outreach and Prevention Education Program (Project H.O.P.E)
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| Utilizing staff who themselves have experienced homelessness, this program provides education and advocacy services. It reaches out to homeless shelters and meal sites, to landlords, and to other agencies. Project H.O.P.E. is funded by the McKinney Act. |
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Housing Equality Law Project
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| SMRLS provides fair housing enforcement services throughout its urban and rural service area through its Housing Equality Law Project (HELP). These services include negotiating settlements, assisting people file complaints with enforcement agencies and representing people in court. Persons who can benefit from these services include low-income persons of color, immigrants and refugees, disabled persons and female heads of households and their families who are treated unfairly, and in violation of anti-discrimination laws, by landlords when they look for housing, live in housing, or try to keep their housing. |
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Migrant Legal Services
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| Featuring a bilingual staff in Fargo and St. Paul, this program provides legal assistance and community education services to low-income migrant farmworkers. The project utilizes growing season offices in communities throughout the Red River Valley in North Dakota, Northwest Minnesota, and Southern Minnesota. |
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Protection from Domestic Abuse and Child Custody Program
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| Protects the safety of children and parents who have experienced physical or sexual abuse, and works to ensure appropriate custody and divorce decisions. Funded by Violence Against Women Act Funds. Provides community education and closely coordinates with battered women's shelters. |
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Seniors
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| The Senior Law Project is a state and federally funded program focusing on issues commonly faced by people over 60, including social security, Medicare, Medical Assistance, nursing home, and other subjects. SMRLS serves those seniors with the greatest social and economic need. We provide community education on topics low income seniors face. |
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Housing Alliance Law Office (HALO)
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The Housing Alliance Law Office (HALO) is a first-of-a-kind partnership between a legal aid organization, a city (St. Paul), a large corporation (3M), a large law firm (Briggs and Morgan), and a law school (William Mitchell), now running out of a community law office located on the East Side of St. Paul.
The HALO project was created to address the acute need for safe, affordable, and habitable housing for low-income persons through the use of tenants remedies actions and other legal processes. Pro bono attorneys from Briggs and Morgan and 3M will work on cases, with the support from William Mitchell students. In cooperation with city building inspectors, significant code violations in rental housing will be identified in order to permit early intervention, prevent demolition, and preserve existing housing stock through repair and improvement.
In addition to cases aimed at repair of substandard properties, other housing matters will be pursued, such as improper evictions and housing discrimination. There will be close coordination with the three District Community Councils to identify appropriate cases and to conduct community outreach to educate landlords and tenants on their rights and responsibilities under rental and fair housing laws. |
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Racial Justice Committee
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| SMRLS' Racial Justice Committee's goal is to eliminate racial discrimination and racial disparities and achieve justice for our clients. |
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Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services
