In the heat of the summer, they gathered.
Attorneys, law students, paralegals and notaries working to provide low-income seniors with advance directive documents at PSI Mandarin Center on July 18.
Volunteers in the 4th Circuit continue to join forces and build their ranks to help ensure senior citizens will have the support of people they trust as they manage their health, housing and financial matters.
The Advance Directives for Seniors project at PSI Mandarin Center was presented in three segments.
In the first segment, pro bono attorney Debbie Lee-Clark spoke in a group information session at the residential facility.
Senior citizens gathered to hear Lee-Clark describe the purposes of each of these advance directive documents: durable power of attorney, designation of health care surrogate, designation of pre-need guardian and a living will.
Seniors who wanted to sign up to have the documents created worked with Lisa Langton, the service coordinator at PSI Mandarin, to schedule a time to meet with an attorney July 18.
Document creation is the second segment of the project. At the July event, 15 senior citizens completed their advance directives documents.
The third segment of the project provides assistance for seniors who were not able to attend the event but who have indicated they would like to have the service.
These attorneys provided the legal counsel on July 18: Bill Gallogly, James Floyd, Rick Stockton, Angela Grewal, Cyndy Trimmer, Mary Guilfoil, Susan Raab and Debbie Lee-Clark.
Paralegal Donna Hoffman notarized documents and scanned executed documents for archiving in the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid case management system.
These paralegals and notaries drafted and executed documents: Lisa Hunt, Cyndi Hicks and Margaret Costa.
Also assisting were Florida Coastal Law School students Rachel Sussman, Kimberly Rogers, Victor Nazario and Monifa Crawford.
Sincere appreciation is extended to the entire volunteer team for stepping up for senior citizens who would not otherwise have access to legal assistance.
More events are planned for the fall at MCCI Clinic — Normandy, Clay County Council on Aging and Pablo Hamlet.
Attorneys interested in these and other pro bono opportunities throughout the 4th Judicial Circuit are encouraged to contact Para at [email protected].