I-Team: Michigan's Justice Gap Exists but a New Task Force is Seeking Ways to Close It

"LANSING, Mich. — Living on a fixed income combined with rising housing costs, Eunice Ervin faced eviction and homelessness quickly. That changed when she sought help from a community resource designed to provide assistance for problems just like the one Ervin faced.

Legal Services of Eastern Michigan has an office in downtown Saginaw, situated on the third floor of a tired building. The old paint and even older office furniture fails to stop the dedicated attorneys and staff members inside, who work tirelessly to provide help to Michiganders, like Ervin, who are at a legal crossroads. It’s one of a few hundred legal aid clinics that dot the state, from the Upper Peninsula to the southern border, Lake Michigan to Lake Huron.

“I said, ‘ah, I can’t make it, my income is limited’,” Ervin said while recalling her initial thoughts when she realized she couldn’t keep the roof over her head. “I probably would have had to live with a relative or be homeless.”

Ervin worked with an attorney from Legal Services of Eastern Michigan to get into a new apartment, one she could afford..."

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