Published: September 12, 2008 03:29 pm      

Georgia Legal Services in Dalton adds staff

Submitted by Georgia Legal Services



Georgia Legal Services has hired new staff to better serve low-income Georgians in Dalton and the surrounding community.

“With the mass migration of Latino and Hispanic families in Northwest Georgia, it is necessary for us to add staff members who are fluent in Spanish to help us better serve this population,” says Phyllis J. Holmen, executive director for the past 19 years. “We also have a variety of informational materials in Spanish about legal problems, and much of this material was developed with grant funds awarded to Georgia Legal Services from The Goizueta Foundation,” states Holmen.

Managing attorney Cynthia Gibson, hired just last February, announced the addition of Perla Moreno and Maribel Quinonez, both local residents who have worked in the community for several years. Perla Moreno has experience with a local law firm and juvenile court. Maribel Quinonez is a social service professional. In addition, Edelmira Alvarez is on board as receptionist for the office in a temporary capacity.

Gibson is a graduate of Emory University School of Law, and an Atlanta Law Fellow Scholar. She heads up the Georgia Legal Services office in Dalton where seven staff members provide the only free source of civil legal services for approximately 89,000 low-income Georgians in the counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Murray, Walker and Whitfield counties, and services to senior citizens (over age 60) in Bartow, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer and Gordon counties. Gibson has several years of experience in family law and poverty law.

“The growth in the Latino and Hispanic populations in Dalton, home of Georgia’s carpet industry, is being mirrored in other areas served by Georgia Legal Services as more Latino and Hispanic families move to the state searching for work. Our offices in Athens-Clarke County and Gainesville-Hall County have staff members who are fluent in Spanish. Although we are not able to provide services to undocumented immigrants, within the past three years, we have provided services to approximately 730 Latinos and Hispanics in Northwest Georgia with grant funds from The Goizueta Foundation,” says Holmen.

“Our mission is to provide access to justice and opportunities out of poverty for Georgians with low-incomes, and with this mission we have the responsibility to make civil legal services accessible for individuals and families in our service region who are eligible,” says Gibson. “The cases we handle are critical and urgent cases. We preserve housing for families and senior citizens, secure access to health care and public benefits, protect people from domestic violence and abuse, and represent people with limited English language ability to ensure protection of their rights; we handle no criminal cases,” states Gibson.

Potential clients are screened for income eligibility and to make sure the problem is one the staff can handle. Georgia Legal Services recruits local attorneys to volunteer to take additional cases for free or at a reduced fee. Additional information is available at www.glsp.org. Legal information for the general public can also be found at www.legalaid-GA.org.

Georgia Legal Services has 12 offices across the state serving all parts of Georgia outside the metro Atlanta area. Since its founding in 1971, Georgia Legal Services has helped more than 500,000 families and individuals across the state. Georgia Legal Services handles no criminal cases and charges its clients no fees for its services.

“Our work changes lives and impacts our communities. Our attorneys reach out to serve people in the dozens of rural counties in Georgia that have no or very few lawyers. Many of our clients can’t access our legal system because they are isolated, elderly or new residents who don’t understand our language or our ways. We give a voice to Georgia residents who are not heard by the legal system. We help our clients, most of whom are women with children, become self-sufficient and able to take care of themselves and their children,” says Holmen.

Georgia Legal Services receives financial support from a variety of funding sources, including government agencies, the Legal Services Corporation, the United Way, foundations, and lawyers and law firms across the state. Still, less than 20 percent of the legal needs of low-income Georgians can be met, and the staff turn away half of those seeking assistance each year, because of insufficient staff resources.

For further information on the Georgia Legal Services office in Dalton, call (706) 272-2924 or toll free at 1-888-408-1004 or log on to www.glsp.org.