On April 29, the Campaign hosted an intimate Zoom panel discussion for our supporters on various committees to hear directly from the program leaders about what 2020 holds for legal aid in New Hampshire.
Key takeaways:
- Uncertainty reigns for major funding sources for LARC and NHLA, including the Interest On Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, or IOLTA, program administered by the Bar Foundation.
- Fortunately, federal funding for the Legal Services Corporation – LARC’s largest funding source – has strong bipartisan support in Congress and was included in economic recovery packages.
- Applications for help with unemployment insurance cases are already ticking steadily upward. Applications for other kinds of legal aid are holding steady for now, but he programs are preparing for a major surge in need. Advocates in the domestic violence project and on the frontlines of the housing crisis especially expect a tidal wave when the stay-at-home orders and eviction moratorium are lifted.
Thank you to Campaign Leadership Council Chairman Ovide Lamontagne for moderating the panel.
PS: Thank you to Ovide for authoring a GREAT op-ed for NH Business Review about the role our programs will play in New Hampshire’s recovery! Read it here!
PPS: In the latest edition of LARC’s monthly newsletter, the LARC Advocate, Steve McGilvary shared the story of “Hope,” a 22-year-old living in a Nashua rooming house, who faced homelessness due to a covid-19 job loss.
Click here to read the story of Hope.
