On Tuesday, August 21, Mid-Shore Pro Bono, a non-profit free legal assistance agency, celebrated its opening in Salisbury with a ribbon cutting hosted by the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce. Over forty attendants lined the third floor for an opportunity to hear from Mid-Shore’s Executive Director, Sandy Brown.
Brown recognized several of Mid-Shore’s board members, including The Hon. Stephen Rideout, and Judge Karen M. Jensen, as well as her staff members, Meredith Kushner, and Juanita Sutton.
She also explained the necessity for the organization on the Shore.
“So why is Mid-Shore Pro Bono down here?”, she said, “Because we saw that there was an outcry for services for legal help, and it’s really difficult to provide these services, mostly because our clients are invisible to the community. Most people are not out there saying ‘Hey! I’m in foreclosure!’, or ‘Hey! I’m going through a divorce’, or ‘Hey! I have some consumer debt!’
“We know those issues are prevalent down here, we know that there are huge barriers to getting access to services and access to justice or the legal system. Many of the people who are suffering from these problems don’t even realize there’s a legal remedy to their issue.”
She went on to call for assistance from the community.
“We are here to build some bridges. We are here to build connections and build a network of all of you people, that can refer clients to us, that they know that there’s a safe, confidential, and compassionate place to come where we will do our best to connect them with other resources in this community. Volunteer lawyers. I know that there are a few of them here and we will be hunting you down later. Other funders, other people that can support the work that we do. We are 100% non-profit; we are totally funder and donor based. We don’t charge anything for our services, and we offer a lot of unique different services. We offer services to keeping youth out of the juvenile justice system, that don’t involve lawyers, that involves restorative justice practices. So we really have a wide breadth of services that we offer.”
She ended her speech with an earnest conclusion.
“We hope that you guys can partner with us and help building our network so that we can make it stronger, so that we can help everybody. Because I think everybody is deserving of some help. ”
Mid-Shore Pro Bono serves Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Dorchester, Talbot, and Wicomico Counties. Their full list of services includes: bankruptcy, consumer debt/debt buyer, foreclosure, small claims, child custody and/or visitation, legal separation, guardianship, divorce, elderly family member(s), advanced medical directives, wills or probate, landlord-tenant dispute, power of attorney, Tort defense, and limited immigration legal services. They do not take any criminal cases, DUIs, or fee generating cases.
Brown said that the best way to refer a client is to have them call the office or stop by during office hours.
“Often an in-person intake is the best. We could work with local agencies and companies to go on site to do intakes at area locations. We are flexible.”
They have multiple locations across the Shore. Their Salisbury address is 212 W. Main Street, Ste. 302, in the Plaza Gallery Building. They can be reached by phone at 410-829-0394 or by visiting their website, midshoreprobono.org
