Homeless Advocacy Project - Veteran's Project


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In the Fall of 2001, HAP expanded the reach of its network of legal clinics by establishing the Veterans Project, aimed at meeting the complex legal needs of homeless veterans. HAP holds a monthly legal clinic at the Perimeter, a daytime drop-in center for homeless veterans. The Perimeter is operated by the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center, servicing an estimated 3,000 homeless veterans living in the Delaware Valley.

HAP’s Veterans Project is the only legal assistance program in Philadelphia that specifically targets homeless veterans. The Veterans Project was founded in response to a call from Perimeter staff who felt that many of the clients had urgent legal needs that were not being met. These needs included assistance with traditional “poverty law” matters, such as consumer and credit problems, landlord/tenant disputes, access to income maintenance programs, and family law issues, as well as veteran-specific matters such as eligibility for veterans benefits and compensation for service-related disabilities.

Through the Veterans Project, HAP has expanded its reach into the homeless community to educate and advocate on behalf of a particularly vulnerable population that had previously been overlooked by Philadelphia’s public interest sector. Through this project, HAP is creating opportunities for self-empowerment and sustainability and an end to the cycle of homelessness so many veterans experience.

For more information or to volunteer for this project, please call 215-523-9595, or email HAP staff attorney Michael Taub at mtaub@philalegal.org.

Michael Taub was nominated by Readers Digest for Hero of the Year 2006. Listen to his interview.

Homeless Advocacy Project
42 S. 15th Street, 4th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215) 523-9595 or (800) 837-2672
Fax: (215) 981-3866
Email: marsha@philalegal.org


	HAP Success Story: VA Debt Waiver

	Mr. E. came to HAP because the Veteran's Administration was attempting to collect $35,288 it claimed he owed. The VA alleged that it had overpaid benefits to Mr. E. for the past 6 ½ years. The VA's solution was to reduce his monthly benefits check from $900 to $450. Mr. E. would quickly become homeless if he continued to receive only $450 per month. He was receiving methadone maintenance treatment, he lived with a colostomy bag, and he had been diagnosed with an impulse control disorder. His only income was VA disability pension benefits and he had no savings; he lived from check-to-check. After several communications with the VA Debt Management Center, a HAP veterans' attorney succeeded in scheduling a hearing at the VA Regional Office in Philadelphia. At the hearing, the HAP attorney requested a waiver of the overpayment. Not long after, Mr. E. received a notice that all but $2,138 of the alleged debt had been waived. Mr. E. entered into a payment plan to repay this reduced amount.