225 Eastview Drive
Central Islip, NY 11722
631.761.7000
www.tourolaw.edu

To Volunteer, Contact:

Please email Kristin Matthews at kmatthews@tourolaw.edu.

Storm Response and Volunteer Needs

Touro Law Center opened a center to provide referrals, assistance and legal advice for residents and small businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Touro Law Center - Hurricane Emergency Assistance and Referral Team (TLC-HEART) operates a legal hotline Monday through Friday for those recovering from Hurricane Sandy.

The Center also offers:

• Assistance in assessing eligibility and completing application forms for the wide range of emergency assistance available to storm victims, both individuals and small businesses (e.g., food stamps, government loans and grants);
• Referrals for free legal consultation and advice on storm-related legal issues (e.g., insurance, landlord-tenant, consumer complaints, unemployment);
• Assistance to members of the Touro community, including students and staff members, who are in need.

Touro Law is coordinating with the New York State Bar Association, the Suffolk County Bar Association, the Long Island Hispanic Bar Association, Amistad Long Island Black Bar Association and with federal, state and local officials in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Touro Law Center's Public Advocacy Center (PAC), Student Disaster Relief Network and Student Bar Association are also joining in the effort.

Touro Law houses a dozen not-for-profit public interest law groups in our Public Advocacy Center that already provide assistance in senior citizen, employment, disability, family law, domestic violence and similar issues that can sometimes be exacerbated during natural disaster. The PAC agencies have agreed to help provide additional resources and support for the victims of the hurricane. "Many of these agencies, such as the Empire Justice Center, the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, and the Suffolk County Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union already provide many of these services to people in need on Long Island and will be a tremendous resource to TLC-HEART," said Thomas Maligno, Director of Public Advocacy at Touro Law Center.

The Student Disaster Relief Network was created in 2005 as part of the Hurricane Relief Network, which was established at law schools throughout the country in response to the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Touro Law and the SDRN have remained committed to disaster relief since the group formed. The group has traditionally traveled twice annually to the Gulf Coast to provide free legal assistance to those who were and are still affected by Hurricane Katrina. SDRN President Matthew Rubino, a third year law student at Touro Law stated, "We are now ready to apply our training to benefit the residents of the Tri-State region, determined to aid in the recovery effort in any way we can. This year, our organization will focus our efforts exclusively in our local communities."

Visit the TLC-HEART web page at www.tourolaw.edu/tlcheart.

Training Materials

Touro Law School co-sponsored with the New York State Bar Association and others a live webcast titled "Providing Legal Assistance to Persons Affected by Superstorm Sandy" in November 2012. It can be accessed from NYSBA's Sandy Disaster Page or probono.net's Disaster Legal Services resources page.