section news
Women in the Profession Section Assists
with the Women’s Cancer Legal Project
By Sommer L. Matheny
[email protected]
The Law Office of Sommer L. Matheny, P.C.
T
he WIP Pro Bono Committee would like to remind our
members of its on-going pro bono initiative, the Women’s
Cancer Legal Project. The Project is a working partnership
between WIP and Atlanta Legal Aid’s Cancer Legal Initiative.
Participating WIP members assist low-income patients fighting
various forms of cancer with the legal issues that may prevent
them from focusing on treatment and wellness.
WIP has sponsored three training sessions over the past three
years to educate and prepare volunteers for the intake sessions
at cancer clinics held at Grady Hospital and Dekalb Medical
throughout the year. The intake sessions are the primary form of
outreach for the project and are used to identify any legal issues
that the cancer patients may be facing. WIP would like to specially
thank our most recent volunteers Cecilia Perez-Matos, Jessica
Harper, Soo Hong, and Susanne Tarter who assisted with intake
sessions in January and February of this year.
When asked about her recent volunteer experience, Susanne
Tarter shared:
“Working with Haley Schwartz through the Cancer Legal
Initiative was an incredible experience. The patients and
their families that we spoke with needed information, advice
and assistance in many areas. One was concerned about
getting Section 8 housing; another had questions about
requirements for Supplemental Social Security; someone
also needed help procuring a wheel chair since walking
was difficult for him; and we even had the opportunity to
complete a living will for a patient right there in the Cancer
Center. The training session provided by WIP in October
2010 was extremely helpful and each participant was given
a training notebook for easy reference.
If you have not yet been able to participate in training, but would
like to be involved, please consider becoming a consultant with
the project. WIP maintains a consultant list on an on-going basis
for use with the project as an additional resource. Participating
lawyers are listed along with their primary practice areas and
may be contacted by Haley Schwartz of Atlanta Legal Aid for
consultation on a particular issue. If you are interested in being
added as a consultant, please contact Anisa Abdullahi at anisa.
[email protected].
The Pro Bono Committee is also launching a spring fund raiser
and actively seeking firms to host a “Jeans Day” to assist us
in raising money for the Women’s Cancer Legal Project. WIP
would like to thank Bodker, Ramsey, Andrews, Winograd &
Wildstein, PC for their participation last fall. Their Jeans Day
donation helped to fund our annual training in October. If you are
interested in supporting this project by hosting a Jeans Day fund
raiser at your firm, or have additional questions, please contact
Emily Nally at [email protected].
For general information about the Women’s Cancer Legal Project
please contact Sommer Matheny at sommer_matheny@comcast.
net. ■
The Women in the Profession Section’s Board includes Chair
Laura Cranford Zschach, Secretary Adriana Renae Midence,
Treasurer Melissa Reading, Immediate Past Chairs Amy Jo
Kolczak (2010-2011) and Joan C. Grafstein (2009-2010)
and Members-at-Large Hon. Susan Eichler Edlein, Nicole
Iannarone, Asha Jackson, Sommer L. Matheny, Rachel Platt,
and Jacquelyn H. Saylor.
The Cancer Clinic staff was also very kind and helpful both
to the patients and to the volunteers. It was a wonderful
experience and I look forward to future opportunities with
the Cancer Initiative Legal Project.”
10
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
March/April 2011
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association