Related Link: Recent
Accomplishments
ELDER
LAW EDUCATION
Many legal and financial issues facing seniors today are
complex and confusing. Low and moderate-income seniors and
their families all too often do not have affordable access
to reliable and objective information regarding legal options,
choices available to them, and choices they need to at least
consider making. Unfortunately, they are frequently barraged
with slanted information and high-pressure sales pitches regarding
estate planning tools, “will kits” and a myriad
of investment and insurance products. Appleseed’s assurance
that all information would be presented in a non-commercial
manner – deliverable through our relationship with the
Connecticut Bar Association’s Elder Law section –
is a compelling project feature.
Leveraging Volunteered Legal Help for Seniors
Our project was launched on June 25, 2005 by a “Senior Citizens Law Day” symposium at Quinnipiac University School of Law in Hamden, CT. Participating experts in Elder Law from across the state offered seminars related to Advance Directives, Wills and Trusts, Long-term Health Care and Prescription Drug Costs, Housing and Consumer Fraud. At the encouragement of Appleseed Board member and Quinnipiac Law Dean Brad Saxton, nine of those elder law attorneys volunteered to update this information in mid-2006 so that we could compile it into “Connecticut Elder Law Resources” and distribute it widely.
Connecticut Appleseed’s distribution of “Connecticut Elder Law Resources” at attorney-led senior center workshops has already helped more than 850 seniors become more knowledgeable about their legal rights and assisted with their future-oriented legal planning. During 2007 our elder law education work was supported by small grants from the NewAlliance Foundation, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the Washington Mutual Foundation. A $5,000 grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation has enabled this project’s extension in 2008 to senior centers in the Waterbury and Litchfield areas.
Connecticut Appleseed handles the scheduling of individual senior center visits by coordinating with volunteers from the Connecticut Bar Association’s Elder Law section. As 2007 progressed, we also began collaborating with Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. to obtain attorneys qualified and interested in conducting senior center workshops. Because Connecticut Legal Services has a related elder law initiative (www.CTElderLaw.org), some of their attorneys are occasionally better-located in relation to a particular senior center to enable Appleseed to provide a requested workshop on a given date.
Senior Citizens Law Day II in Late 2008
Together with Connecticut Appleseed’s original collaborators, we have also begun planning a second Senior Citizens Law Day in the Fall. Senior Citizens Law Day II will be a catalyst for the review and revision of “Connecticut Elder Law Resources”. Since
many of the pro bono attorneys who will be teaching seminars at that event have authored chapters in this book, we will work with them to develop a new edition. Our plans include translating this updated version of our resource book into Spanish so that we can further broaden the book’s distribution and better answer the legal questions and needs of the state’s senior citizens.
|
