Bill struggled through symptoms of PTSD for 40 years after returning from Vietnam. At his lowest point, he abruptly lost his source of income, had no access to health care benefits and was on the brink of losing his home. Without the help of his civil legal aid attorney, he would have ended up on the streets.
When Bill went to his local Veterans Administration medical center 40 years after his service in Vietnam, he never expected to get help from both a psychologist and a lawyer. Through a medical-legal partnership there, he was able to get the legal help he needed to save his home, and counseling to ease the PTSD he had been living with for decades.
Medical-legal partnership
A Vietnam veteran with undiagnosed PTSD, Bill was close to losing his home after experiencing a sudden loss of income. Thanks to the services of a medical-legal partnership between the Inner City Law Center and the West Los Angeles Department of Veterans Affairs, Bill was able to access psychological services and civil legal aid in one stop.
His civil legal aid attorney and health care provider worked together successfully to keep Bill in his home. The community partnership between legal and health groups and the legal guidance Bill got to navigate a complex process is at the heart of what effective civil justice solutions look like.
“As Bill’s doctor, I knew his anxiety about losing his home was destroying his health. Bill needed a legal solution to his health issue, and fortunately our medical-legal partnership with Inner City Law Center could provide him that.”
— Sharon Birman, Clinical Psychologist, VA West Los Angeles Medical Center