How A Zipcar Partnership Helps New Yorkers

Max with a Zipcar that helped him more efficiently and effectively serve The Family Center’s clients throughout all NYC’s five boroughs.

A few months ago The Family Center received a call about a woman who had recently suffered from a stroke and was temporarily severely handicapped in her ability to communicate, remember, and travel. She was receiving care at home and her mother was taking care of most of her affairs on her behalf. The client lives in an apartment in a remote area section of Staten Island inaccessible by train or ferry.  Luckily, thanks to Zipcar, a Family Center Legal Wellness Institute (LWI) paralegal and staff attorney were able to drive out to the client’s home to help her execute a Power of Attorney to allow her mother to handle her legal and financial affairs more easily.  On our visit, though, we recognized that the client had several other legal issues for which she needed the help of an attorney. Most importantly, was a family law issue involving her young children. We immediately began gathering the information we needed for a petition in Family Court, which is now pending. We continue to drive out to the client for meetings in her home as needed, to obtain documents and have client sign and review court filings. Because we were able to meet the client and sit down with her in person, we were able to gain a more complete picture of the case and identify additional legal issues with which she needed assistance. Ultimately, by using Zipcar to drive out and meet with the client at her bedside, our LWI attorney and paralegal have been able to provide this client with extensive legal services even though she is home-bound in an inaccessible location.

Max’s selfie with a Zipcar!

The Family Center LWI has also been working for close to six months with a client who is living with and fighting recurrent cancer. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Unfortunately, through no fault of her own, she’s had some problems with her Medicaid coverage over the past few months, which have exacerbated the emotional stress associated with fighting cancer, in addition to threatening her access to lifesaving medical treatments.  The client, who lives in a remote part of Queens, is unable to take public transportation due to her illness and the debilitating effects of her treatment. Thanks to Zipcar, LWI attorneys have been able to go to her to obtain the documentation necessary to fix the issues with her medical coverage, making sure that she’s getting both the care she needs and the assurance that she doesn’t have to worry about the stress of travel in order to get legal help.

Without the help of Zipcar, it would be nearly impossible for us to reach clients like these to provide the legal services they need to maintain their health, their homes, and their families.

-Maxwell Fineman, Family Center Legal Services Coordinator

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