Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, a provider of free civil legal assistance to lower-income Illinoisans, launched two mobile offices on wheels Monday in hopes of expanding its services.
The organization serves 65 counties in central and southern Illinois, including offices in Alton, East St. Louis, Swansea and Quincy.
The nonprofit’s new “mobile justice vans” will break down barriers of geography, income and transportation that too often prevent some from seeking legal help, Executive Director Clarissa Gaff said.
“We want to be where they can access it,” Gaff said. “If they don't have a car, if they don't have access to the internet, if their cellphone is being spotty in a particular county, we want to be able to reach them no matter what.”
Land of Lincoln provides legal services in areas like eviction prevention, family law, domestic safety, access to health care and education, public benefits, income security and criminal record clearing.
Typically, residents needing help have either showed up to one of the brick-and-mortar locations or called in, Gaff said. The problem is that Land of Lincoln only has nine offices across an area roughly the size of Indiana.
“We've always really expected people to come to us or access us through the hotline,” Gaff said. “I think for us to put an office on wheels — kind of like a bookmobile or health clinic, going from community to community — it means we're more deeply invested in our communities and far more accessible to all of our 65 counties.”
The idea came from other legal aid organizations, which have vans but generally use them for disaster relief, Gaff said.
About 700,000 Illinoisans would qualify for their services in the 65-county area based on income. It’s estimated 80% to 90% of those residents could use legal assistance. However, only 12,000 to 14,000 residents utilize Land of Lincoln’s services annually. In addition to reaching new territory, Gaff said she hopes the vans can also act as billboards.
The tour with the new vans will start at the courthouses in Randolph and Perry counties, located to the southeast of the Metro East, on Tuesday. Appointments are not required. After the tour, Land of Lincoln will focus the new vans on parts of the state where they don’t have a physical office.
“We plan to hit hard many of our counties that we're not regularly serving,” Gaff said.
