A new program is being rolled out in Northumberland to strengthen access to justice for vulnerable residents, with an emphasis on seniors and survivors of domestic violence.
The program will stretch across Northumberland and reach areas like Campbellford, Bewdley, Alderville First Nation and Brighton, hopefully “reducing referral fatigue” and “strengthening long-term stability,” the Help Centre and Northumberland Community Legal Centre (partner agencies of the Help and Legal Centre of Northumberland) has announced.
Executive director with the Help Centre Kim Lauder tells us more about the new two-year addition being rolled out, which is being funded through a $204,000 boost from the Law Foundation of Ontario.
The launch of Equal Step: Supporting Equity Through Legal Education and Navigation represents a powerful evolution in how the centres support people who feel overwhelmed and/or excluded from the legal system, continues Lauder.
“This funding allows us to build a seamless bridge between legal knowledge and real-world action, ensuring clients are not navigating these systems alone. It is about dignity, equity and restoring confidence.”
The $200,000 boost represents a new funding source and support through to October 2027. Focuses will include empowerment, navigation, and sustainable access to equitable legal services.
“We try to use plain language and we educate,” continues Lauder. “We offer hands-on help with the needs and expectations that the system has. Things like understanding responsibilities, completing forms (and) meeting deadlines.”
Centre staff say access to justice starts with awareness of legal rights and potential issues but also requires the ability to overcome barriers – everything from technology challenges, to lack of government identification documents, complex systems, and unstable life circumstances.
This is about a co-ordinated, community-based model and helping people to navigate legal processes, completing forms, accessing benefits and connections/referrals to programs and wrap-around supports that prevent situations from escalating or compounding, explains Lauder.
In other words, this means help for people to face high-stakes legal issues and then that supports them with housing stability, income and disability benefits, fraud and identity theft protection, and more.
The new program has been designed to specifically help address the growing complexity of legal challenges that vulnerable and low-income residents are facing, and a correlating spike in the number of people who need help.
“Equal Step significantly enhances our ability to respond to increasing legal needs,” notes Lois Cromarty, executive director of the Northumberland Community Legal Centre. “By working in close partnership with the Help Centre, we are delivering a holistic, trauma-informed approach that removes barriers and supports clients to move forward with clarity and confidence.”
An example of where a senior may need help is under trying to switch from disability benefits to a Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) at age 65 and still maintain some disability benefits. Lauder describes challenging documentation – sometimes, there needs to be an appeal process – and it can be “extremely onerous” and “very complex” with strict deadlines and “really unfamiliar legal language.”
Meanwhile, in recent years, the number of seniors facing financial challenges in Northumberland only continues to rise. Staff hope this program will help make a dent and reduce barriers.
(Written by: Sarah Hyatt)
