Posted in Disaster Legal Services on April 29, 2011 |
Great information about the storms and available disaster assistance:
Legal Services Website Launches Early to Help Storm Victims
Tennessee Lawyers Mobilize to Offer Free Legal Advice to Storm Victims
Legal Aid of East Tennessee offers help to storm victims
Tennessee Lawyers Mobilize to Offer Free Legal Advice to Storm Victims
Tornadoes confirmed in Rutherford and Lawrence
Posted in Disaster Legal Services, Resources on April 29, 2011 |
Thank you TN Bar Association for this great information!
After last year’s flood, the TBA put together several 1-hour webcasts; two are relevant to this year’s storms.
The webcasts are free and lawyers are can receive CLE credit for watching. The webcast on FEMA would also be beneficial to victims in addition to lawyers.
FEMA: Facts, Forms & Follow-Up
This one-hour session provides information about the FEMA application process necessary for Tennesseans to be eligible for federal benefits as well as the appeals process for those dissatisfied with the assistance granted. Speaker Juli Gallup is an Advocate at Disability Law & Advocacy Center of Tennessee (DLAC). After Hurricane Katrina, Juli became DLAC’s Project Manager and the Tennessee state lead for Katrina Aid.
https://www.tnbaru.com/CLE/catalog_course_details.php?course=6357
Providing Pro Bono Legal Services After a Disaster
This one-hour free webcast, presented by the TBA Young Lawyers Division, provides an overview of disaster legal services in Tennessee and equips volunteer lawyers to handle disaster-related pro bono cases. Using the YLD-produced Disaster Assistance Manual as a guide, the presenters identify the types of legal issues that most frequently arise after a natural disaster, and highlight the resources available for lawyers who volunteer to help disaster victims
https://www.tnbaru.com/CLE/catalog_course_details.php?course=6348
Posted in Disaster Legal Services, Resources, Training on April 28, 2011 |
(AP Photo/Chattanooga Times Free Press, John Rawlston)
Times of Need
I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward Everett Hale
Following the devastating storms on April 27th there are at least 33 people dead in Tennessee and unfortunately it is believed that there will be more reported throughout the following days. Many people in our community are heartbroken and wondering what they can do to help others. Here are some ways to help:
General Tennessee Disaster Information
Volunteer Opportunities for Attorneys
General Disaster Legal Services Information
Opportunities for Everyone to Help
Donate Money
Donate Time
Resources for Tennesseans in Need
In the days to come there will be more resources and information available. As we learn more about volunteer and opportunities, as well as tools for community support, we’ll share them here and on our website. So please, stay tuned.
TALS is thinking of all the people affected by these storms and sending hope for healing.
Best,
The TALS Family
Posted in Resources on April 27, 2011 |
It’s Wednesday!
There’s a new free tool I want to share with all you advocates out there.
If you’re like me and want to edit some photos for fliers, brochures, or the web and don’t have the money for Photoshop (or the time to learn new software) then the site Picnik is for you! I played around with it today after seeing some great results from a design blogger.
Here are some of my results:
Two Before and Afters of Photos from Equal Justice University
2010
Fun and very reasonable for thrifty programs! Check it out, you might love it too.
- Linnet
Linnet Overton, TALS Outreach and Development Director
Posted in Resources, The Week in a Nutshell, Training on April 26, 2011 |
Hello everyone out there!
Here’s your Week SPRING in a Nutshell!!!
TALS is looking forward to more of this beautiful spring. Here’s what’s coming up on the TALS and civil legal services’ community calendar…
ON PBJ
DISASTER LEGAL SERVICES
Disaster Resources:
Memorial Events:
SPRING COMMUNITY EVENTS AND TRAININGS
There are always many more community events and trainings held all around the state. (If you have an event related to legal aid or the concerns of legal aid recipients you’d like promoted on our blog, you can send your suggestion to loverton@tals.org.)
Woo Hoo spring!
- PBJ
Posted in Uncategorized on April 21, 2011 |
This Friday a lot of things are closed:
You know who’s NOT closed Friday?
Need we say more? These people work HARD! So be sure to stop by your local office and bring them lunch, or a hug, or a big coffee 
.
Hooray for civil legal service providers!
- PBJ
Posted in Thoughts Over Lunch on April 20, 2011 |
Author: Lisa Primm, LAPSW, TALS Policy and Training Director
Self-Care as a Tool for Expanding Our Ability to Serve the Public
Really, you want me to write about self care? Me, the one who lives like a martyr, doing everything for everyone (whether it is work or family or friends) and almost nothing for myself? This must be a trick. Ok, I’ll treat it like therapy. Maybe writing this blog will be life changing for me….but if not, maybe it will at least help someone else. (See what I mean?)
Desire to Serve
So, most people who choose to serve the public (social workers, teachers, legal aid advocates, etc.) have some sort of inner motivation that calls them to get paid very little in exchange for the privilege of working harder than most others. From the get go, they choose to put their own needs for fortune and glory behind their need to help others. And I have a theory. People who LIKE to help others actually deal with stress better and can probably do more with less self care than others.
In fact, some of us even LIKE the feeling of putting all of our energy into serving others and enjoy the exhaustion and strain of fully unloading all that our little social working hearts have to pour out. But still, for most of use (Mother Teresa not included) we have a breaking point. And even beyond that, think how much more we would have to give if we were our healthiest and happiest versions of ourselves!
Preventing Burnout
With that introduction, I will talk about what I really do to deal with role strain and my “Over-givers Syndrome” (I love blogging; you can even invent a syndrome!)
This is where I tell myself “You can get through this. You have had crazy days/weeks/months before and lived to tell the tale. You must take care of yourself or you will spontaneously combust and then who is going to do everything? You don’t have to be perfect. It is okay to say no.” And so on…
Most givers are pretty organized. We keep lists and revise lists. Often I actually do a ‘brain dump.’ That involves taking out a piece of paper and spending 10 minutes writing down EVERYTHING I need to do at work and home and in my other 254 different roles. Overwhelming? Not really. Better to have it written down so that I am not constantly afraid that I will forget something important.
So, in an ideal world I would spend three days a week doing a great cardio workout and three days a week lifting weights. In my real world, I might do a lunge a day because I need to pick up a piece of trash that is lying on the floor in my living room (the same piece of trash that everyone else has just walked around all day long). However, I do love a good walk in the woods. It doesn’t even feel like exercise! If you can squeeze it in, try it. The best part for me is that after I sweat for an hour I don’t want to mess up and eat anything fattening. At least for that day.
Okay, I know that sounds really bad. And impossible. But what I mean is that you don’t always have to compete, win, give the most, or be the best. You can actually say, NO, I can’t give your son a ride to the skating rink tonight because I have other conflicts, or NO, I am not able to write another blog this week because I need to leave the office in time to get home and have a relaxing dinner with my family. If you try this once, just once, you might actually decide to incorporate the word NO into your bag of tricks.
Even when I know that I can do it better and faster and with greater flourish than my child, husband, coworker, etc., I have learned that it is best for ALL of us when I delegate. My 17 year old daughter now calls in and picks up her own medication. My husband has learned where I keep the hand soap and knows how to refill the dispenser. My coworkers have learned that if they tell me when they put the last printer cartridge in the machine I will order another one. And if they don’t, they will not have ink. (It only takes once.)
I don’t know what I would do without my frequent debriefing talks. I talk to my husband, my Mother, my coworkers, and my dog. I find that in most cases a human response is helpful, but occasionally the dog is the best confidant. In any case, I must talk and laugh and cry with others. It allows me to keep doing what I do.
Do you have other techniques? Well, then use them! But by all means remember that “Over-givers Syndrome” is the precursor to having someone write a great eulogy about you. But, wait, I don’t think anyone else could write one as well as I could…
- Lisa
Posted in The Week in a Nutshell on April 18, 2011 |
Thanks to everyone who contributed to and attended our trainings last week! We had so much fun and really learned a lot. We hope you did too.
Training – Events and Continuing Education across the state
This week we are doing a lot of planning for upcoming training events.
We have a great Special Education Task Force Training that will be part of the Tennessee Disability Mega Conference in June. And we are planning for our 2011 Equal Justice University coming up in October. It may seem like a long way off, but it’s already time to mark your calendar and plan your organizations’ sponsorship of this amazing statewide event!
Stay tuned for info on more new training opportunities soon! In the mean time, check out the following activities and tools available this week.
Clinics – Opportunities to volunteer and receive civil legal advice
WEST TN
4/20/11 – Rural Outreach Legal Clinic
Memphis Area Legal Services conducts an outreach legal clinic each Wednesday, from 1pm to 4pm, at the Fayette County Commission on Aging, referred to by locals as “The Senior Center,” located at 108 Kay Drive in Somerville, Tennessee. Call for more information 1-888-207-6386.
4/21/11 – Attorney of the Day
Attorney of the Day is an advice and counsel clinic held at the Shelby County Court House most Thursday afternoons in Room 134. Here, volunteer lawyers provide advice and counsel to persons filing pro se in General Sessions Court. For more information call 901-523-8900.
MIDDLE TN
4/23/11 – McHugh Legal Clinic
The fourth Saturday of the month, the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands holds a clinic at their offices at 300 Deaderick Street in Nashville. For more information call 1-800-238-1443.
EAST TN
4/29/11 – Legal aid of East Tennessee Knox County Clinics
The LAET Saturday Bar Clinics in Knox County are held at the LAET Office, 502 S. Gay Street, Suite 404, Knoxville, TN 37902. For more information call 865-637-0484.
Legal aid of East Tennessee Pro Se Divorce Clinics
Pro Se Divorce clinics are held in Washington, Green, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnston, Carter, Unicoi, and Sullivan Counties at different times throughout the year. For more information call 423-928-8311.
Free Legal Advice in some Civil Court Cases in Washington County
Free advice and limited representation is available to some people with cases already in Washington County General Sessions, Circuit, or Chancery Courts. Contact Carla Forney for more information about free lawyers in your court 423-928-8311 or 1-800-821-1312.
Resources – Tools for non-profits
Have a great week!
-PBJ
Posted in Wordless. on April 18, 2011 |
One day a week we post just one photo.
A photo that speaks to the value of humanity.
A photo that speaks to the need for equal access to justice.
Posted in The Weekly Legislative Update on April 15, 2011 |
Here’s the bill update through today. And no jokes—only a quote—to sum up the week at the legislature:
Storms make oaks take roots (ancient proverb).
Legislative Update
Click on the substantive law area to link to their updates:
Enjoy your weekend!
- Lisa
Lisa Primm, TALS Training and Policy Director
