…h Our Neighbors® Families cannot thrive without affordable housing that is safe, stable, and healthy. green-bg Donate What’s Happening Now Families cannot thrive without affordable housing that is safe, stable, and healthy. Schools cannot thrive with a student body forced to live in unstable housing and deplorable conditions. In Atlanta, where nearly half of the residents are renters, far too many families struggle to obtain and maintain rental ho…
…Want to know more? Sign-up for our newsletter today. Cole Thaler Director, Safe & Stable Homes Project Check out more from this author. Cole serves as the director of AVLF’s Safe and Stable Homes Project. He oversees the Saturday Lawyer Program and the Standing with Our Neighbors Program, among others. Before joining AVLF, Cole was a supervising staff attorney with Georgia Legal Services Program, where he represented low-income rural Georgians in…
…with the most vulnerable parts of themselves. I started my journey in the Safe Families Office, a walk-in clinic for domestic violence survivors to apply for temporary protective orders. Each day, I was impressed by the resilient spirit of survivors, who despite a bleak outlook, chose to fight for their futures and their families. I was equally impressed with my colleagues who siphoned the strength from their clients to pour into the office. From…
…ved* $381,690 worth of community assistance provided 3,497 visitors to the Safe Families Office $54,099 worth of health and safety products distributed *4,106 cases were opened in 2019, representing 4,663 adults and 4,508 children – not including approximately 3,242 visitors to the Housing Court Assistance Center John F. Kennedy said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live…
…ffice with a tour led by Lilli Crowe, program coordinator for the Safe and Stable Families Project. Many of the clients were anxious and even a bit hesitant about being there, but by the end of the day, I could tell they were filled with confidence. The second I walked through the doors, I knew this office meant business. The room was bustling with lawyers and advocates meeting with clients about their domestic violence encounters. Many of the cli…
…tal of 9 Atlanta schools. Communities can’t thrive without housing that is safe, stable, and healthy. Our innovative, nationally recognized Standing with Our Neighbors® program places a lawyer and a community advocate directly in Atlanta schools to act as a first responder when trouble arises. When a kindergartner’s asthma is flaring up because of the creeping mold on the walls, and the landlord refuses to step in, parents can turn to our advocate…
…nt them in their family law litigation. Imagine: a survivor walks into the Safe Families Office seeking an order of protection against a spouse, who is also the other parent to their children. Through a Temporary Protective Order, the Safe Families Office can help the survivor receive temporary child support, temporary custody, and even temporary spousal support. Thanks to AVLF’s Family Law Program, the services do not end there. The client can ap…
…rvice by working with AVLF and pursuit of practicing law in Georgia. Outside of work she enjoys local concerts, spending time with family, and exploring Atlanta. Safe Families Office Administrator, Safe and Stable Families Project stucker@avlf.org 470-889-9082…
…nior project, and I thought I was prepared for whatever came my way at the Safe Families Office. I was even prepared for the ever-present question, “Why does she stay?” But I was not prepared for how emotionally involved I would become in AVLF’s Safe and Stable Families Project. I started as an intern with AVLF at the SFO in August of 2015 and stayed on as an extern in the spring of 2016. I was eager to represent a domestic violence client at a 12…
…y from violence. Law Students: Law students can volunteer or intern at the Safe Families Office. With a semester commitment of at least 10 hours per week, all students will conduct clients interviews, draft pleadings and orders, and safety plan with client in our walk-in office in the Fulton County Courthouse. Under the supervision of an AVLF attorney, 3Ls will also be able to represent clients in 12-Month Order Hearings. How does it work? Those w…
…passion is what led me to Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and to the Safe Families Office (SFO). I interned with the SFO the summer after my first year of law school. I interviewed victims of domestic violence and walked them through the process of getting an ex parte protective order. It was overwhelming and sometimes heartbreaking, but when a client gave me a hug or just a sincere thank you I knew I was making a difference. I continued to…
…lunteer Lawyers Foundation, and Partnership Against Domestic Violence, our Safe Families Office Managing Attorney has been participating in a forum addressing best practices for serving survivors of intimate partner abuse in the courts. Originally, the metro area organizations just wanted to learn from each other by visiting each others’ counties, watching TPO court, and meeting the judges and advocates. These conversations developed into the Metr…
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