During the pandemic, human trafficking has been on the rise, and services to help victims are less widely available. In recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11, 2021, the Harris County Law Library has assembled a list of resources and links to organizations that work to disrupt supply chains and provide relief and aftercare for victims.
Read moreStopTXEviction.org LiveChat Now Available
A few weeks ago, we featured on this blog a new service designed to help Texas renters stay in their homes during the pandemic. The service is a website called StopTXEviction.org.
Just yesterday, the Texas Legal Services Center informed the legal aid community that a LiveChat feature is now available on the website four days a week, Monday through Thursday, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Law students, volunteer lawyers, and paralegals are ready to answer your questions about renters’ rights in Texas, while providing options to those in need of legal assistance. To receive legal advice from an attorney, users must be at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.
When LiveChat is open, you will find the 'Chat now' icon displayed on the bottom right corner of the website. Here, before proceeding, you will be asked a few basic questions about household size, family income, and child support obligations, if any.
For additional information about services offered through this website, please read our blog post on the topic (in English and Spanish) or consult the StopTXEviction.org website directly.
Harris County COVID-19 Emergency Direct Assistance Fund Opens Today
If you have not already received monetary relief from Harris County to offset financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be eligible to receive assistance now via the Harris County COVID-19 Emergency Direct Assistance Fund. The following FAQ will address eligibility requirements, application deadlines, and the selection process.
How much money is available for financial relief to the residents of Harris County?
Harris County, in partnership with Catholic Charities of Galveston-Houston, is providing $40 million in relief. The funding is expected to help 33,333 families with one-time payments of up to $1,200 to be used for emergency expenses, such as housing, food, utilities, internet connectivity, transportation, childcare or healthcare.
Who is eligible to receive the funds?
Applicants must either have one household member enrolled in a public assistance program or have total household income that is less than 60% of the area median income as measured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Applicants must also prove pandemic-related hardship by providing copies of, for example, unpaid bills.
How many households will receive the funds, and how are the households selected?
The funding is expected to help 33,333 families. Recipients will be selected using a random statistical model that ensures no bias. Unfortunately, not everyone who applies will receive funds.
When can eligible households apply for the relief?
The application period begins on November 2, when any qualified households that have not previously applied for relief can submit a request for financial assistance. Families can apply on their own without cooperation from a landlord or anyone else. The application period closes on November 6. APPLY NOW.
How will the randomly selected applications be processed, and when will funds be distributed?
Catholic Charities will receive the names, review all applications for eligibility, work with those applicants to get the proper documentation within a short time frame, and, finally, process payment for those who are approved. All applications will be reviewed and payment will be made by December 30.
How can I get more information and/or assistance in completing the online application?
Visit this FAQ page on the Catholic Charities website or call 832-990-1318 Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. – 8 p.m., to ask questions, request help in using the website, and voice any concerns.
What options do I have if I am not selected to receive funds?
Catholic Charities has assembled a list of resources for applicants who were not selected but who may still need assistance.
How can I spread the word about this program to those in need?
Download the Fact Sheets (available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese) available on the Catholic Charities website, and share them with Harris County residents who could benefit from this program.
National Pro Bono Week, October 25-31
The 2020 celebration of National Pro Bono Week takes place October 25-31. Legal organizations across the country have organized events to raise awareness of the need for pro bono services and to celebrate the initiatives of those engaged in pro bono legal work. For a list of National Pro Bono Week events, please visit the sites below.
Pro Bono Week — ProBonoTexas.org
Celebrate Pro Bono — Probono.net
Celebrate Pro Bono — American Bar Association
Pro Bono Week — Taproot
Houston Bar Association Events
Houston Pro Bono: A Call to Action — Houston Volunteer Lawyers (October 27, 12:00 pm, MCLE: 1.0 hour & Ethics: 0.5) Click here to register.
Join Justice Jane Bland, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Monica Karuturi, Jeff Kaplan, Kelly Rose, Michael Donaldson, Bill Kroger, Mindy Davidson, and Anne Chandler in this call to action to ensure all Houstonians are able to access justice
If you are a licensed Texas attorney and would like to volunteer to provide pro bono services, contact the Houston Volunteer Lawyers or visit HVL online.
Jovita Idar: Texas Activist, Advocate, and Ally
Jovita Idar may be the most influential Texan you’ve never heard of before today. Idar was at various times an activist, a journalist, a nurse, and an educator, always lending her effort and intellect where she felt they were needed most.
Idar was born in late 1885, into a privileged Tejano family in Laredo. The second of eight children, her childhood home was vibrant, and the conversation was often unflinchingly political. Due to her parents’ relative wealth and social standing, she was able to obtain a high-quality, private Methodist education. Like many educated women of her era, she earned a teaching certificate and set off upon her graduation to be a school teacher.
Disgusted by the conditions of the school, which she felt made learning virtually impossible, Idar shifted her sights to what we might these days call “big structural change.” Seeing an opportunity to leverage freedom of the press into a platform from which to fight for civil rights, she moved back home in 1911 and joined her father in the family business, running a newspaper called La Cronica. That same year, she worked with her family to hold the First Mexican Congress, after which she published an opinion piece in La Cronica calling for women’s suffrage.
After a brief stint in El Cruz Blanco (a local version of the Red Cross active in the landscape of the Mexican Revolution), Idar moved to a different Laredo paper, El Progreso. It was there, as a staffer, where her most cinematic claim-to-fame took place. El Progreso published an opinion piece Idar wrote criticizing then-President Woodrow Wilson for dispatching United States military forces and the Texas Rangers to the Mexican border. Taking umbrage, Texas Rangers appeared at the headquarters of El Progreso. Idar stopped them that day by advocating for the paper’s rights under the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of the press, and fearlessly blocking their entrance to the building with her own body.
Idar’s accomplishments are literally too many to list here, including founding La Liga Femenil Mexicanista, fighting for the eradication of the Texas “Juan Crow” laws, and even working as a Spanish language translator in a Bexar County hospital to ensure Tejano access to medical care. But it is important to note that her political philosophy was at all times driven by a belief that equality of the sexes was crucial to the liberation of all marginalized peoples.
