Success Stories
MVLS has helped over 40,000 individuals with legal problems since its founding in 1981. The following client case stories describe the types of services MVLS volunteers are able to provide that make a difference in individual's and families’ lives.
“Rolling Again” (Help with Government Benefits)
After an MVLS volunteer helped her get a new wheelchair, *Jennifer’s life was back on track.
With its 16-inch wheels, “Active-Trac” suspension, exceptional curb-climbing ability, and 500-lb. capacity, the Jazzy 1470 motorized wheelchair seemed perfect for Jennifer, an arthritis sufferer who has been wheelchair-bound for almost 15 years. And it would have been perfect, if not for its habit of breaking down.
Twice it broke down in the middle of busy downtown Baltimore streets. She might have been hit had it not been for the help of a policeman and an ambulance crew. There were nearly 30 times in a ten-month period when the wheelchair had to be repaired. Repairs could take days or even weeks, leaving Jennifer, a diabetic who had no other form of transportation, essentially homebound. She missed doctor’s appointments (vitally important to monitor her diabetes), had to drop classes at UMBC, and had to pay people to do routine errands for her.
Medicaid had provided the wheelchair, and she tried to get them to replace it, but had no luck. She called the Disability Law Center for help, and they directed her to MVLS. J. Carol Williams, a solo-practice attorney in Hyattsville, volunteered to take her case.
What at first looked like a misunderstanding that could be resolved with a phone call, became an increasingly complicated case. There was confusion about who the relevant parties were, and the failure of one of those parties – the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which administers Medicaid in the state – to show up at an administrative hearing. Ultimately, there was a final ruling that the health department did indeed owe Jeanette a new wheelchair, a new Quantum 1650, which she finally got, some 18 months after her problems started.
“Family Reunion” (Child Custody)
*Gary wanted desperately to be a good father. But first he had to get his son back.
It had been mere hours since 19 year-old Gary had told his girlfriend that he wanted to break up when he got a text message from her with some startling news. “She said she was pregnant,” he recalls. “It’s a real shock to be that age and realize you’re going to be a father.”
After his son was born, Gary and his former girlfriend shared care for their child with some help from their parents and grandparents. Over time, Gary says, he began to take on the lion’s share of the parenting duties. But everything changed abruptly not long after his son turned one, when the mother took the child and refused to let Gary come near him.
Gary looked into hiring a lawyer to help him get his son back, but found he couldn’t both pay for a lawyer and support his son financially. Determined, he took matters into his own hands, going to the courthouse where he figured out how to file a complaint against his son’s mother. “You don’t see a lot of fathers stepping up to care for their children,” he says. “I couldn’t turn my back on my son. It was important to me to be in his life.”
Eventually Gary sought help from MVLS. “He enjoyed being a father and was willing to fight for it,” says MVLS volunteer Jason Ridgell, an attorney with Fishbein & Fishbein, P.A. “He was the most prepared MVLS client I’ve ever had.”
That preparation paid off when the case went to court. After hearing testimony from the child’s parents and from witnesses, the judge awarded primary physical and legal custody to Gary. “As soon as the words were out of the judge’s mouth it felt like the heaviest weight had been lifted,” Gary says. “It was a good feeling.”
To celebrate, Gary, who has a job with a temp agency and is taking classes at a local community college, decided to take the next day off. He spent the day playing in the yard with his son.
“A Hard Lesson” (School Suspension)
As a 17 year-old mid-year transfer student last winter, *Jorge made friends with a group of teens who regularly skipped school. Jorge followed their lead, cutting class to avoid exams he was afraid he wouldn’t pass. Eventually, he was caught. Jorge was told by an administrator, “We’re going to withdraw you from school because you’re not showing any interest in your education, and you’re wasting your time and our time.” Jorge said the administrator then showed his dad the [withdrawal] papers, but he didn’t say that there was any choice. He was told to sign the papers.
Jorge’s mother contacted MVLS for help, and the case was referred to Jon Hadfield, of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, who helped Jorge prepare a speech for his hearing with the principal and two administrators. “I made flashcards (of what I would say),” Jorge recalls, “what I would do if I got in trouble with my school work, that I would be serious about schoolwork, that I would join a team and make new friends who are interested in school. I had learned a hard lesson.”
In the hearing, Hadfield argued that the school failed to follow school-mandated due process measures prior to the withdrawal, used a withdrawal form only valid for students transferring to another school, and did not properly notify Jorge’s parents of other disciplinary options. Moreover, he argued, two other students with Jorge the day he was caught skipping class had equivalent truancy records, but served in-school suspension and then returned to classes. Jorge’s punishment had been disproportionately severe. The principal decided to allow Jorge to return to school.
Now that he’s back at school, Jorge is working hard to show he wants to be there. He joined the cross-country team, added an art class to his schedule, and made friends who share his determination. “I used to be lazy,” says Jorge, “[now] I want to graduate.” It’s clear that Jorge learned something from the experience—and equally clear that the lesson would have been wasted without an advocate like Hadfield to protect Jorge’s right to finish his education.