In the VOLS Elderly Project, pro bono legal services are provided to poor persons living in Manhattan who are over the age of 60.  VOLS conducts twelve legal clinics each month at eleven senior centers where seniors can discuss their legal concerns in confidence, receive legal advice and, where appropriate, obtain referral to a volunteer lawyer for representation.  We also provide services to clients from an additional 80 community-based agencies serving the elderly poor.  Areas of legal assistance include wills, medical directives, powers of attorney, housing, consumer matters and Medicaid. Over 150 lawyers serve on our Elderly Project volunteer attorney roster.

      In 2008, the VOLS Elderly Project provided legal services on 1596 cases.  386 of the cases were referred to volunteer lawyers.  About 400 of the seniors served were homebound.  Last year, the project also conducted 24 legal information sessions for seniors and senior center staff on life-planning and debt-related issues, reaching 700 seniors and 40 senior center staff members.

       The VOLS legal clinic sites for the Elderly Project are:

East Side
 
University Settlement Older Adults Program - 189 Allen Street
Community Lounge for Senior Services - 155 East 22ND  Street
The Carter Burden Center for the Aging - 1484 First Avenue
Stanley M. Isaacs Neighborhood Center - 415 East 93rd Street
Hamilton-Madison House Southbridge Towers - 90 Beekman Street
 
West Side

Our Lady of Pompei Church- 25 Carmine Street
Hudson Guild/Fulton Center  Senior Services - 119 Ninth Avenue
Encore Community Services Senior Center St. Malacy's Church - 239 West 49th Street
Goddard Riverside Senior Center - 593 Columbus Avenue
Abyssinian Development Corporation's Abby Towers Residence - West 131st Street
Central Harlem Senior Center - West 140th Street
Riverstone Senior Life Services - 99 Ft. Washington Avenue

       985 of the 1596 cases undertaken in 2008 originated at clinic sites and 611 cases came from other participating sites.  The Elderly Project staff reviews cases from non-clinic sites; makes suggestions for immediate action where necessary; refers the client to a VOLS legal clinic, if practicable, and conducts home visits.

       Here are examples of cases undertaken by volunteer lawyers:

• A retired senior was denied a pension from his union.  The union claimed that he had had too few years of qualified employment.  A volunteer attorney established that the union member had, in fact, completed sufficient years of qualified coverage.  The client will now receive pension payments.
   
• A disabled senior is the beneficiary of her mother's testamentary trust.  The trustee had not been paying the bills that he was supposed to pay.  A volunteer lawyer filed papers in Surrogate's Court to compel the trustee to fulfill his obligations.
   
• One Stop Senior Services, Echo Apartments and the Visiting Nurse Service CHOICE Program made a concerted effort to have their members and residents execute health care proxies and powers of attorney.  Volunteer attorneys from the VOLS Elderly Project manned tables at these sites to provide the necessary legal services.

       The Elderly Project publishes A Guide to Burial Assistance and Funeral Planning for New Yorkers in Need. The guide contains burial assistance information for social workers who work with elderly poor New Yorkers, and for friends and families of poor persons who have died.