Critical Legal Housing Services for Those Hit Hardest by Pandemic

The economic impact of COVID-19 has put thousands of Sarasota County residents at risk of losing their homes.

“They deserve to have an attorney in their corner if they are facing eviction or foreclosure,” said Chelsea Wait, grants and resource development manager at Gulfcoast Legal Services (GLS).

A recent grant from the joint COVID-19 Response Initiative of Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation is helping GLS ensure just that.

Video source: Gulfcoast Legal Services

Changing lives through justice

Gulfcoast Legal Services provides free civil legal aid for low-income, vulnerable individuals in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties who otherwise can’t afford an attorney.

While the court system guarantees legal representation in criminal cases, the same is not true for civil issues like housing, financial stability, family law, and immigration. “Our clients never have to pay a dime to work with our paralegal and our attorney, as long as they are eligible under our grants,” said Wait.

According to Wait, client needs are a little different in each county that GLS serves. Historically, the client base in Sarasota has skewed toward older individuals seeking help with life planning, guardianship, and the like. But that demographic has changed amid the pandemic. “In the last six months of 2020 versus 2019, we did see more clients under the age of 50—a lot more,” said Wait. “They’re younger, and also we’re seeing more people of color.”

Since the pandemic began, one of the biggest needs GLS has seen is housing assistance, specifically related to evictions. “We’ve had a huge increase in calls about evictions,” said Wait. “That’s the bulk of our new cases.” In December 2020 alone, the agency saw calls to its housing phone line for Sarasota and Manatee counties nearly triple.

That same month, Gulf Coast and Barancik Foundation awarded GLS an $18,000 COVID-19 Response grant to help the nonprofit add a full-time housing attorney dedicated to Sarasota. The funding supplemented a generous grant from United Way Suncoast to cover the attorney’s salary. The new attorney, Justin Schwegel Esq., came on board in January.

A long-term response to the pandemic

A Georgetown Law graduate who brings a wealth of experience to the program, Schwegel will provide critical housing legal services to eligible Sarasota County residents who have experienced pandemic-related financial setbacks and now face eviction or foreclosure.

Services will range from advice, legal counseling, and other assistance all the way up to full representation in court, depending on the client’s needs. He’ll also conduct outreach to ensure vulnerable populations are aware of their rights and have access to justice.

“This project is a crucial part of our long-term response to the pandemic,” said Wait. “It will play a key role in meeting ongoing needs for clients and ensuring no one gets left behind in our mission to provide equal justice.”

Wait noted that the attorney’s work will help ensure that landlords are made whole too. “Most of the landlords we work with have been really good,” she said. “Most want to work with us. We work with landlords to get back rent. They really just want to make it work; they need the money too.”

She noted that while having legal aid is important, so is having funding available to address back rent in Sarasota County. “Both of those go hand in hand,” she said.

How to help

When it comes to direct services, Gulfcoast Legal Services has a lot of great grant funders, according to Wait.

“What we really need is funding for general overhead,” she said. “Grants do not provide this, and it helps us remain flexible to meet the changing needs of the community.”

To donate to Gulfcoast Legal Services, go here.