Miami's Homeless Veterans Need Legal Assistance. You Can Help Them Get It.

"The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently released the results of a survey of homeless veterans, including those here in South Florida, asking what types of services and support they need to get back on track. Some answers were predictable, such as housing or mental health treatment. But their most common request might surprise you: civil legal aid. As an attorney with the Veteran’s Legal Advocacy Project at Legal Services of Greater Miami, I can tell you why that is — and how you can help.

The CHALENG survey, short for Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups, asks homeless veterans every year about their needs and wants. Four of the top 10 requests from male veterans this year were legal help for child support, restoring a driver’s license, resolving outstanding warrants and fines and preventing evictions. Another recent study found that 88 percent of low-income veterans (and 86 percent of all low-income Americans) received no help at all or inadequate help for civil legal problems like these.

This means that even for veterans who risked their lives to defend the principle of justice for all, justice may be out of reach in civil courts..."

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