Legal Aid Service of Collier County: Veterans Legal Project

Legal Aid Service of Collier County, the county's legal aid organisation, operates what it calls a comprehensive Veterans Legal Project for eligible low-income veterans in need, recognising that veterans "particularly those who are elderly, disabled, or suffering from service related mental illnesses, are among the most vulnerable and at risk populations in Collier County". The project is funded in part through a grant by Funding Florida Legal Aid and through the Collier Community Foundation. What it covers. Advice and counsel, limited representation, full representation in litigation, and negotiation with third parties. The project attorney is VA certified and can represent veterans before the VA, so the project reaches VA benefits claims, discharge-status adjustments and upgrades, and benefits or medical treatment previously improperly denied, alongside eviction and foreclosure defence, obtaining or keeping affordable housing, public benefits (Social Security, SSI, SSD, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment, TANF and food stamps), unpaid wages, garnishment and repossession defence, creditor claims and collections, employment discrimination based on disability, driver licence restoration and resolving civil fines, and reducing legal barriers to employment, education or housing. Where. 4436 Tamiami Trail East, Naples; (239) 775-4555, fax 239-775-3887; applications are by appointment only, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. An Immokalee outreach office sits at 1400 N. 15th Street, Suite 201, Immokalee (239-657-7442). This is a private nonprofit legal aid office, not a county agency; the county's own Veteran Services is a separate entry.