Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines Supports Medical Legal Partnership

Iowa Legal Aid is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines to help support the Medical Legal Partnership at Blank Children’s Hospital. Since 2015, Blank Children’s Hospital and Iowa Legal Aid have collaborated to provide free legal services for children and their families. Attorneys advocate on behalf of the children, negotiate settlements, and provide full representation on legal cases addressing the needs of the children. Iowa Legal Aid is grateful for the support to continue providing legal services to critical children in need.

Support from the Linn County Bar Association

Iowa Legal Aid is grateful for the financial support received from the Linn County Bar Association! The annual financial support and pro bono volunteerism of the Linn County Bar Association and its members is critical to our services to provide legal assistance to low-income Linn County residents with nowhere else to turn.

Read the article found in the Cedar Rapids Gazette HERE.

Pictured: Darin Luneckas, President, Linn County Bar Association

Dennis Groenenboom Receives Charles Dorsey Award

Iowa Legal Aid’s Executive Director, Dennis Groenenboom, is the recipient of the NLADA’s Charles Dorsey Award for 2017. The Charles Dorsey Award is given biennially to an individual who has provided extraordinary and dedicated service to the equal justice community and to organizations that promote expanding and improving access to justice for low-income people. To be eligible to receive this award, an individual must have demonstrated a commitment to equal justice for all through service as an officer, board or committee member of a national or statewide organization devoted to fulfilling the promise of equal justice. Read more HERE.

 

14th Annual Dean’s Cup Golf Event

The 14th Annual Dean’s Cup golf event is coming up on May 21, 2018 at Echo Valley Golf Course in Norwalk. This event is for all law graduates, faculty, staff and students of Drake Law School and the Iowa College of Law – of every skill level – to support their law school. A lawyer who is not a graduate of either school may participate in the best shot format by declaring temporary allegiance to one of the two schools at the time of registration.

Over 100 lawyers and judges from around the state participate in this event. The Drake team Captain is Chief Justice Mark Cady, while the Iowa team Captain is Judge Eliza Ovrom.

The proceeds from the event go to Iowa Legal Aid, which provided Hope, Dignity and Justice to nearly 38,000 Iowans in 2017, but still had to turn away or underserve at least 10,000 others. The registration/hole sponsor form can be found HERE.

Local Foundations Provide Iowa Legal Aid Funds for Upgraded Technology

Iowa Legal Aid is pleased to acknowledge grants from local foundations, which make it possible for staff to have the upgraded technology needed to better serve low-income and other vulnerable Iowans. Iowa Legal Aid’s staff and clients commend you on your generosity.

Farrer Endowment Foundation: Desktop computers, large monitors, and color printer for the North Central Iowa Regional Office in Mason City.

 

 

Community Foundation of Great River Bend: Color copier for the HELP Regional Office in Davenport.

 

 

Dubuque Racing Association: Color printer and headsets for the Northeast Iowa Regional Office in Dubuque.

 

 

Prairie Meadows: Desktop computers and printers for the Central Administrative Office in Des Moines.

 

THANK YOU!

Stephen B. Jackson, Sr. Receives the Rolland E. Grefe Pro Bono Publico Award

The Iowa State Bar Association (ISBA) honored Attorney Stephen B. Jackson, Sr. with the Rolland E. Grefe Pro Bono Publico Award on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, at the ISBA Annual Awards Gala at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Rolland E. Grefe Pro Bono Publico Award is awarded annually to an attorney who has enhanced the human dignity of others by improving or delivering pro bono legal services to those who, for one reason or another, are unable to afford a lawyer.

A link to the full article can be found HERE.

Iowa Legal Aid’s search for next Executive Director

Dennis Groenenboom, Iowa Legal Aid’s longest serving Executive Director, has announced his plans to depart from Iowa Legal Aid in late 2017 or early 2018. Dennis is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law and has been working with Iowa Legal Aid for nearly 40 years. Dennis began his legal career with Iowa Legal Aid (then Legal Services Corporation of Iowa) upon admission to the Iowa Bar. He has served as a Staff Attorney, Managing Attorney, Deputy Director and as Iowa Legal Aid’s Executive Director since May 1992.

A copy of the job announcement can be found at the following link:
http://www.iowalegalaid.org/resource/executive-director/download/85DF18DE-C454-4CCA-B929-6C568EE9C05E.pdf

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. For more information, please contact Arlys Kness at akness@iowalaw.org.

Iowa wins Dean’s Cup!!

The 13th annual Dean’s Cup Golf Challenge was held on Monday, May 15, 2017 at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City. This event is for all law graduates, faculty, staff and students of Drake University Law School and the University of Iowa College of Law – of every skill level – to support their law school, and, at the same time, raise funds for Iowa Legal Aid.

Iowa was led by Judge Eliza Ovrom, while Drake was led by Chief Justice Mark Cady. Forty golfers faced off in the morning match play, and 50 additional Drake and Iowa golfers joined in the afternoon for the four-person best shot portion of the competition. Once the scores were tallied from the morning and afternoon rounds, Iowa was declared the winner.

Golfers shared post-round food and drink and bid on silent auction items. Prizes for various skillful shots (long drive, closest to the pin, etc.) were awarded, including the “Honorable Ronald E. Longstaff Long Putt Award.” Judge Longstaff played an integral role in creating the Dean’s Cup Golf Tournament. This year’s winner was Ron Mountsier. Past winners are Matt McKinney (2014), Ann Michelson (2015) and Judge Michael Moon (2016).

The 14th annual Dean’s Cup has been set for Monday, May 21, 2018 at Echo Valley Golf Course in Norwalk.

Thank you to the Iowa State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (YLD), and ARAG, and all of the hole sponsors for supporting the Dean’s Cup!

   

[Right picture: The Iowa team leaders Judge Eliza Ovrom and Dean Gail Agrawal are presented the Dean’s Cup by Drake team leaders Chief Justice Mark Cady and Dean Jerry Anderson]

[Left picture: Dean Gail Agrawal, Judge Eliza Ovrom, Jeff Courter]

Iowa Legal Aid Board of Directors Annual Meeting – May 6, 2017

The Iowa Legal Aid Board of Directors met on May 6, 2017 for their Annual Meeting. During the annual Awards Luncheon, held immediately after the meeting, Iowa Legal Aid’s Executive Director, Dennis Groenenboom [pictured], recognized the following individuals:

 

 

  • Elisabeth Reynoldson for her service as Board President for the past two years;
  • Mark Zaiger as incoming President;
  • Bill Boyd, who just finished his third three-year term of service on Iowa Legal Aid’s Board of Directors – the maximum allowed by the Bylaws;
  • Matt McDermott, incoming Vice-President, for receiving the United Way of Central Iowa’s 2017 Individual Volunteer Award.

[Pictured: Matt McDermott, Elisabeth Reynoldson and Mark Zaiger]

In addition, there are two categories of awards given out each year – Excellence in Service Award and Outstanding Client Service Award.

Excellence in Service Award recognizes those who have excelled at contributing toward the development and delivery of legal services to low-income people, contributing substantially to the improvement of the lives of low-income people, or donating numerous volunteer hours to Iowa Legal Aid. This year’s recipients are listed below:

 

Jean Allsteadt has volunteered over 470 hours since 2008, performing clerical tasks for Iowa Legal Aid’s Legal Hotline for Older Iowans and Volunteer Lawyers Project in Des Moines. With Jean’s help, Iowa Legal Aid staff are able to spend more time providing client assistance. [Pictured: Jean Allsteadt and Kara Smith, Iowa Legal Aid Volunteer Lawyers Project Coordinator]

 

 

David Mansheim is an emeritus attorney who has donated more than 1,300 hours in the last three years. David started and staffed a pro se divorce clinic in the Waterloo Regional Office, which allows the office to serve more pro se litigants seeking dissolutions of marriage. [Pictured: Michelle Jungers, Managing Attorney, Waterloo Regional Office and David Mansheim]

 

Iowa Friends of Legal Services was created in 1996 by a group of concerned individuals, following cuts in federal funding for legal aid, to advocate for state funding for Iowa Legal Aid. Since that time, Iowa Friends of Legal Services has been a key player in obtaining bipartisan support for state funding to provide civil legal aid to low-income Iowans. Iowa Friends of Legal Services has also supported legal services funding at both the federal and local levels. [Pictured: Scott Hartsook, Managing Attorney, Legal Hotline for Older Iowans, Margaret Vernon and Virginia Rowen]

 

Outstanding Client Service Award honors individuals whose courage and strength of character epitomize the standards to which Iowa Legal Aid aspires. Recipients maintain creative work in the face of personal and social obstacles, accepting challenges and persisting in these efforts. This year’s recipients are listed below:

Julia Davis was in a domestic violence shelter when she first contacted Iowa Legal Aid. Her husband was facing 40 years in prison for domestic violence and various other crimes. With the help of Iowa Legal Aid, she obtained a dissolution of marriage that gave her sole legal custody and physical care of their child. Today, Julia is in the process of completing her bachelor’s degree, and continues to use her experience to advocate for other victims of domestic violence at a local shelter. Divorcing her abusive husband has allowed her to feel safe and strong, which has given her the freedom to focus on improving herself and enriching the lives of others. [Pictured: Shelley Whitcher, Managing Attorney, Southwest Regional Office and Julia Davis]

 

Casie Trimble lived for seven years in a relationship where she suffered from many forms of domestic abuse by the father of her children. With help from Iowa Legal Aid, a civil protective order was granted, giving her sole legal custody and physical care of their children. Following that order, Iowa Legal Aid represented Casie in four contempt hearings, one of which resulted in a 30-day jail sentence for the abuser. Throughout the process, Casie never gave up, she continued to move forward to make a better life for herself and her children. [Pictured: Carrie O’Connor, Managing Attorney, Northeast Regional Office and Casie Trimble]