Looking for justice? Catch the bus

The stars aligned for Lisa Madison as she ran errands last week.

The Meriden resident saw a little blue bus drive past as she was turning into an Owatonna business. It caught her eye, she said, because she thought she saw the word “justice” on the side.

A few hours later, Madison took a friend to visit the food shelf in Ellendale – and there sat that little blue bus.

She approached attorney Kristin Dexter and paralegal Jessica Velasz with a wide smile.

“Do you have a (business) card?” Madison asked. “What exactly do you do?”

Dexter handed over a card as she listed off the free legal services provided by Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS), which uses the blue “Justice Bus” to travel to rural communities to serve clients where they are.

Dexter and Velasz are there to offer legal information, resources, and referrals on a variety of civil matters, including family law issues, medical assistance or Social Security benefit issues, housing and HUD concerns, immigration–

“You just said ‘HUD,’ so I need two cards,” Madison said.

She didn’t need any legal advice, she said, “but I can see the need. I have a lot of people who talk to me, who are younger, that could use this guidance.”

The service is designed for low-income people, and those with disabilities or who are over age 62.

Madison asked if the bus had information about wills, but that’s a work in progress, Dexter said.

“Our lawyers want to,” she said, “but because of the funding (SMRLS receives), we have to prove there’s a need” for help with wills and estate work.

Instead, Dexter directed Madison to Five Wishes, a website with advance care planning documents that are clear, simple, and legally binding in most states, for a nominal fee.

The Justice Bus has been on the road only since May.

“It was an awesome nest egg idea,” Dexter said of the Justice Bus, “and (SMRLS) just acquired the vehicles when COVID hit.”

Though they helped eight people during the two-hour stop in Owatonna, Madison was the only person to approach the bus in Ellendale in the first hour or so.

“This year may have lower numbers,” Dexter said, “just in the sense that we have to get ourselves out there first, and it can be scary” to discuss legal issues.

“We’ve had people who ask really good, detailed questions that have made me think very, very hard,” she said. “So we’ll get them our intake line information and have them call in to go through the intake process.”

SMRLS serves 33 counties across southern Minnesota. Similar organizations are Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, covering 20 counties; Legal Aid Society for Northeast Minnesota and its 11 counties; as well as Legal Aid of Olmsted County.

Depending on the severity of the legal issue, Dexter said, supervisors can grant permission to the bus staff to handle it from there, “but we, along with the other legal aid services in the state, are trying to have one cohesive inline system, so you get the same help and same process” anywhere.

“A good thing that came out of COVID is that a lot of our services can be done remotely now,” Velasz said. “There’s a legal kiosk system that we can send people to,” which allows clients to sign documents over email and handle other business online.

That’s why the Justice Bus works, too:

“We bring our work computers and have wifi capabilities in the van,” Dexter said, “so we can print documents and instruction packets” for clients who may choose to fill out any paperwork on their own.

Pamphlets and brochures are provided in multiple languages, and SMRLS has a language line for staff to access a translator, if needed.

While Dexter does family law specifically, “there are resources that we’re aware of in each of our communities that we don’t necessarily partner with – but we can do soft hand-offs when we have connections to those services.”

Veteran issues, for example, are growing, “and we can refer them to other offices when we know clients have had good experiences with them,” Dexter said.

She’s been with SMRLS for about two years, “and they’ll probably get to keep me forever,” she said, “because I don’t think I’ll ever get something like this again.

“In legal aid, you have this opportunity to help people negotiate and really understand how to move forward in learning how to cope with one another, rather than winning,” Dexter said.

The clients often recognize the benefits, too, Velasz said.

Someone they helped recently received the back pay they were owed from Social Security, “and they gifted us a portion of that in gratitude for our services,” she said. “Normally, a (hired) attorney would take 25% of the back pay, or up to $7,200, but we don’t do that.”

In addition to the personal and professional rewards, there is a loan forgiveness program for staff members.

There’s only one Justice Bus – so far – but other regions have their own traveling offices.

It likely will not be a year-round service, thanks to the unpredictability of winters in Minnesota.

“And it would be rude to have people stand outside in the cold and wind” to allow privacy for clients inside the van, Dexter said, though some of their stops have made offers of office space during their visit.

The bus will be back through the area in August; a more permanent, consistent schedule is being devised.

On this swing through the area, it made stops from Red Wing to Northfield to Ellendale to La Crescent, hitting 19 towns in seven days.