On September 17, I manned a table for the library at the Senior Legal Fair. The event was put on by Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, also known as SMRLS (rhymes with "curls"). SMRLS provides legal assistance to low-income people in the southern part of Minnesota.
The event included one-on-one advice or will appointments with a lawyer and also sessions on such issues as immigration, identity theft, elder rights, and housing. Some sessions were available in Hmong, Vietnamese, Russian, Somali, and Spanish. Organizations such as the Social Security Administration, Ramsey County Law Library, Owl-MN, UCare, and Senior LinkAge had tables. The latter seems like a good place to refer people who need counseling in issues such as prescription drug help, legal assistance, nursing homes, caregiver support, etc. Senior LinkAge is staffed by trained health and human services professionals.
I talked to 47 people who had questions ranging from registering a Washington County card, to getting power of attorney forms, free or low cost internet, tax help, ESL classes etc. Many stopped by to say they loved the library. Quite a few were interested to find out about the Gale Legal Forms database.
--Andrea
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