Texas has the second highest population of veterans in the nation. Legal issues are the top unmet need of veterans. That's why this week there is a statewide effort to bring legal aid to vets.
"Veterans in Texas need legal aid because the veteran population has a high percentage of individuals who are low income and that is a statewide and also a nation wide problem," said Cassandra Champion, Regional Director and Veterans Rights Attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project.
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation has designated this week as Texas veterans legal aid week.
"This opportunity for veterans in particular to come out and really have their legal focused on this week is really great," said Champion.
$3.5 million in grants has been awarded to fund legal services to Texas vets.
"In Texas we have over 1.6 million veterans. In Midland county there's over 8,000. In Ector county there's over 7,000. We just have a lot of these individuals who are especially deserving of legal aid services," said Champion.
Local bar associations, law schools, and pro bono private lawyers will provide civil legal services to Texas veterans.
"We should really be the leaders in the nation in providing these services and making sure that nobody falls through the cracks who has served our country and we owe them this debt," said Champion.
