by Patti Connor
Staff Writer
With the opening of its new intake center this fall, clients of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s office at 126 W. Adams St. can look forward to a considerably more pleasant waiting time.
The organization is renovating a 2,500 square-foot storefront on the ground level of its existing facility to provide improved access for clients.
“Currently, they are required to ring the buzzer and then wait before being admitted to our office on the seventh floor,” said Betty Center, systems administrator for Legal Aid. “Especially on Thursday mornings when we’re our busiest, it’s not uncommon to have as many as 35 or 40 people all waiting in the lobby at the same time. Sometimes we even have an overflow. This should go a long way toward eliminating that.”
Along with a larger, more comfortable lobby and waiting area, the new space also will include five offices for client intake and meeting with clients and a small meeting and training room where employees will conduct a variety of legal clinics and legal education presentations.
Following completion of the facility, currently set for late October or early November, the seventh floor will be used for creating revenues to help support provision of legal services to the community, Center said.