Legal Aid of the Bluegrass provides civil legal assistance designed to alleviate the most brutal problems of the low income people living in 33 northern and central Kentucky counties. These services are typically in the areas of government benefits, consumer, housing and family law. The service that their attorneys provide is a tool that helps people in emergency situations meet their need for food, shelter, medical care, and freedom from financial or physical abuse.
They serve low-income families with children, the elderly, veterans and people needing access to healthcare. Their clients are frail and elderly nursing home residents, those suffering abuse at the hands of a loved one, people with a barrier to employment, those who are financially exploited and those that lack the basic necessities of life.
Statistics tell us that the people they serve are particularly vulnerable, often living with the risk of losing something be it their home, job, health, safety or independence. For example- low-income single parents are seven times more likely to experience domestic violence than those at higher income levels (Intimate Partner Violence, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report (May 2000). Kentucky studies also show us that the leading causes of homelessness are evictions and utility cut-offs typically resulting from divorce or loss of employment (Kentucky Homeless Survey Report: Kentucky Housing Corporation (2001). These problems cause a domino effect where one loss leads to another. Through the legal system their attorneys and paralegals can preserve the home, protect assets, stop the violence, remove employment barriers, and support families towards the goal of achieving maximum independence and safety.
