Joanna was tricked into buying the mortgage on a vacant and blighted home in Kansas City’s urban core by an investor who had purchased the property upon a prior foreclosure. Joanna is low-income but she was promised the investor would rent out the home and repay the mortgage with the revenue made by renting the…
Every year, Legal Aid of Western Missouri provides free legal assistance and representation on civil (noncriminal) matters to thousands of your neediest neighbors in our 40-county service area. When they have nowhere else to turn, low-income families and individuals, elders, and people with disabilities look to Legal Aid for help to secure the most basic necessities…
Fred was referred to Legal Aid by a community partner. His Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments had been suspended for an unknown reason. While his Legal Aid attorney was investigating his SSI benefits, she learned he was also having an issue with his subsidized housing. One of Legal Aid’s housing team attorneys accepted the housing…
Weldon is a disabled man living on a small fixed income. He contacted Legal Aid after his home was foreclosed on and he faced imminent eviction. Due to his poor health, Weldon was unable to find appropriate housing quickly and needed to delay his eviction. In reviewing Weldon’s case, his Legal Aid attorney realized that…
The Municipal Court Defense Unit of Legal Aid began representing Mary in April. Mary had a driving while suspended case as well as several other driving charges. Her Legal Aid attorney advised Mary on how to get back her driver’s license and she followed the instructions. Due to Mary’s hard work and her attorney’s advocacy,…
Brenda came to Legal Aid for assistance obtaining a custody order for her three children. The children’s father, Wayne, was in prison at the time for robbery and domestic assault. Wayne had abused and harassed Brenda for almost a decade. He punched her in the face repeatedly, kicked her in the face and stomach, tried…
Adopt-A-Neighborhood Receives $190K Grant
When Irene’s husband passed away, she did not have enough resources to pay for his funeral. As a last resort, she and her disabled son went to a “payday loan” company to borrow $150 each.
Monica and her husband, Art, had three children together. During their marriage, Art severely abused Monica by such acts as pulling her by her ankles off a couch, trying to push her out of a moving car while she was pregnant with their middle child, throwing a phone book at her face the night before…
Legal Aid’s immigration team began working with Abella in 2016. She wanted to apply for citizenship but couldn’t afford to pay the $680 application filing fee. Abella was separating from her husband. She applied for food stamps for her toddler daughter but was denied. Had she been approved, the food stamps award letter could have…
