This year, we took our ability to deliver our life changing and in some cases life-saving services one step further. We are proud to announce that we are building a Mobile Legal Unit called the Justice Bus. The Justice Bus will allow us to offer our services, anywhere anytime; and we invite our community partners to contact us to join us in delivering service from this rolling law office.
Barriers like transportation, communication, mental and physical health problems, and the need to prioritize tasks required for everyday survival make our clients some of the most marginalized in the community and perpetuate the barriers they face in seeking our services.
For some, the bus fare needed to get to our office alone is enough of a barrier that they cannot make it to our doorstep. For others, the thought of leaving all of their possessions at an encampment that may be swept in their absence to meet us at our office is too terrifying a thought. Other clients have disabilities that make it difficult to find us and seek out our help, even if they can benefit greatly from our services.
We’ve been dedicated to meeting clients where they are for 20 years, and we can now take that one step further. Washington States first Mobile Legal Unit, the Justice Bus, is a rolling law office on wheels. The Justice Bus will allow us to deliver the services of SCLC’s existing programs to underserved areas in King County regardless of location. We envision building on the current relationships we have with community members, and establishing partnerships with homeless encampments, where we can drive up, put out our awning, and welcome people into the Justice Bus where they can receive civil legal aid.
This is a big move, and we need your help. We need to be able to maintain a strong core of support for existing program delivery while we build on this incredible opportunity. If we do this correctly, we can change the landscape of legal services in Washington, and we would love you to be a part of this incredible journey.
Stay tuned to follow the journey of the @JusticeBus on Instragram as it brings accessible legal aid to those that need it most. We invite community partners to join us in delivering service from this rolling law office. Please reach out to Shannon Wong, Development Coordinator, at shannon@seattlecommlaw.org for questions about how you can support this work. We are thrilled to have you along for the ride!
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