Karen P.

Karen is a twelve year old girl who suffers from Wilm’s tumor (a malignant kidney tumor), a condition that was diagnosed in 1998. Despite consistent treatment, the cancer has spread to her lungs and she is now set to undergo a stem cell transplant, her only hope for survival. On top of all of this, Karen and her family were on the verge of homelessness.

Karen’s mother, Cathy, is a single mom who is currently unemployed, due to Karen’s medical demands. Due to her unemployment, she simply could not afford to stay in her current apartment with her three children. Moreover, Karen’s biological father was defaulting on his child support payments. Thus, other than sporadic contributions from Karen’s father, the household income for this family is about $394.00/month in Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”).

The Medical-Legal Partnership Project was successful in obtaining a Rental Assistance Program (“RAP”) subsidy voucher for this family. The RAP voucher assists qualified families with the payment of rent in apartments throughout the state. Although there is a very long waiting list for the RAP vouchers, the MLPP was able to expedite the process for this family and obtain RAP approval within a couple of weeks. The MLPP was also able to identify and refer the family out to the Child Support Enforcement Agent in their district who will assist the family is garnishing Karen’s father’s child support payments.

Joyce B.

Joyce B. is a four year old girl who is diagnosed with a kidney disorder.  She must remain hospitalized for months at a time awaiting a kidney transplant and thus, cannot attend school regularly.  Joyce’s mother, Lisa, does not want to deprive her daughter of a pre-school education, especially considering Joyce’s special needs.  In this case, however, obtaining a tutor proved difficult because Joyce not only suffers from kidney failure, but she is also profoundly deaf. 

Joyce’s local school district proclaimed they simply did not have the resources to provide Joyce with a tutor, but ultimately did arrange for one to come to the hospital a couple times a week.  However, the tutor knew only limited sign language and was not a certified sign language instructor.  The Medical Legal Partnership Project quickly contacted the school board and addressed the problem with their director of special education.  Within days, Joyce had a certified sign language instructor coming to her five hours a week, as required by law. 

Joyce is now bonding beautifully with her teacher and becoming quite a remarkable young lady.