Waterloo Region Community Legal Services is working to shore up a lack of resources and representation among residents with low incomes.
Free community legal clinics are being run by the organization at 150 Main St. in the multi-agency community space on the first and third Tuesday of every month.
"We recognize there's a lack of resources for unsheltered and low-income folks in the City of Cambridge," Evangelynn Chee, community development worker for WRCLS, said.
"Specifically, people with little to no income often experience difficulty accessing legal support. Many also experience discrimination and stigmatization, so by offering these mobile legal clinic sessions we hope to bridge the gap and provide legal support in some of these areas to the unsheltered population."
A wide range of services are being offered, from providing legal support and sharing legal information to connecting people with community referrals.
Tenancy, Ontario Works and disability, and employment law are just a few of the areas of focus for the clinics. However, assistance with criminal and family law isn't available.
The WRCLS is funded by Legal Aid Ontario and those attending the clinic must meet its financial eligibility guidelines, Chee said.
According to the Legal Aid Ontario website, eligibility is based on the family unit, the income of the family and their assets.
For example, an individual can't exceed $22,720 in gross income, with the guidelines ranging up to a family of five or more being unable to exceed $50,803.
When it comes to liquid assets, a single person can't have more than $8,933 worth and a family unit of two or more must be under $11,910.
"Our mandate is to provide equal access to justice," Chee said.
"With the rising rates of housing insecurity, employment insecurity and income insecurity, there's an even greater need for outreach to the unsheltered community. We understand the intersectionality between social issues and legal issues. We offer a nonjudgmental and safe space for folks."
All information shared by those attending the clinic remains confidential, Chee emphasized.
"We hope that by bringing legal services to Cambridge we'll be able to alleviate some stress from folks living in vulnerable circumstances and improve their overall wellbeing," she said.
"We'll try our best to refer people to other community agencies if we're unable to support them with our direct services."
Similar mobile legal clinics are being put on in Ayr, Kitchener, New Hamburg and Wellesley.
For more information on the WRCLS visit wrcls.ca.
