Lawyers provide free help for survivors of Joplin tornado

December 05, 2011|Chad Plein, KY3 News | cplein@ky3.com

JOPLIN, Mo. — The emotional storm following the May 22 tornado presents its own challenges for Joplin:

Domestic abuse in Joplin up 44%, landlords raising rent because of short supply, good honest survivors of the storm ripped off from crooked contractors.

Joplin's Catholic Charities office has seen 9,500 clients since the May tornado.

"We want to get them back to where they were before the tornado," Kathy Welch with Catholic Charities said.

But instead of just offering rent money, clothes and food, organizations are introducing clients to lawyers.

"There's a lot of problems," attorney Zach Tusinger said. "It's not as simple as putting your life back together and buying new things; there's things with titles and legal issues."

Tusinger, fellow attorney Jamie Rodriguez and paralegal Jaime Farrill-Blood sit on the second floor of the old Federal Courthouse in Joplin. They work through Legal Aid of Southwest Missouri; taking only tornado-related cases. Their salary is provided from an Americorps grant, administered by Equal Justice Works.

"It's very fulfilling," Rodriguez said. "Both (Zach and I) are from here."

Rodriguez was working in Chicago when her mom's home was damaged by the tornado that killed two of Zach's family members.

"I watched CNN for a week, I kind of wanted to move home after the tornado," Rodriguez said who left her job in Chicago.

"Going back to normal routine was difficult," Tusinger said about his law job in Joplin, "so when this opportunity came along, it was nice to put my skills to use for the community."

Now the three help tornado survivors with issues regarding insurance companies and landlords.

They say some landlords receive insurance money from the tornado, but will not do the proper repairs. Other cases involve homeowners who are ripped off by shooty contractor work.

Legal Aid of Southwest Missouri doesn't charge Joplin tornado survivors a fee for their services, as long as they meet certain requirements. You can contact them at (417) 782-1650.

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