A couple of months ago I wrote a diary called A Story About A Small Office Building Downtown about Lone Star Legal Aid, which is the main legal aid organization in Houston and the areas hardest hit by Harvey this week. In that diary that I wrote as Trump threatened to pull all funding from the Legal Services Corporation, I pointed out the amazing group of dedicated legal professionals that make up Lone Star’s staff.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I had the privilege of working there several years ago helping victims of Hurricane Rita, my wife has worked there for over seven years helping people with tax problems, and I have the true honor of counting many people who work there as friends. So yes, this is definitely personal to me as a lawyer, as a Houstonian, but most importantly as someone who cares about the welfare of other people.
As the fourth largest legal aid organization in the United States, Lone Star provides absolutely vital legal assistance to the very groups our society far too often marginalizes: victims of natural disasters, the poor, the disabled, veterans, victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, the elderly, and countless other people in need of legal help. Its an amazing group of people who truly represent the very highest and best qualities of our legal profession.
This time though, Lone Star itself needs help because yesterday morning their main office in downtown Houston was badly damaged by a fire: ABA Journal- Apparent Explosion and Fire Damage Legal Aid Office in Houston.
Due to the flooding in Houston, their office was closed at the time the fire happened, but one firefighter was injured putting out the blaze. While the building was not destroyed, large parts of it are now probably unusable, and they haven’t gotten a chance to get inside the building yet to see the full extent of the damage, although it looks severe from the pictures I’ve seen. But knowing Lone Star, and the people who work there, even Hurricane Harvey and this fire will not stop them from helping others because that’s just what they do. Its who they are.
So I urge you to please take a look at their website, see the good work they do, and then make a donation to help them out Lone Star in its time of need so that these phenomenal people can get back to helping others in their time of need. Please help those who help others.
Lone Star Legal Aid- How To Help