Attorneys Give Legal Aid, Comfort to Needy

When Daryl Sabo was homeless, he kept warm by lying next to dryers in laundermats in Tujunga and Sunland. He inserted one coin after another into the machines during the cold Valley nights.

“I would just curl up to it,” Sabo remembered.

Sabo has been homeless off and on for a decade since becoming addicted to drugs. But he said he has been clean for three months after completing a substance abuse recovery program.

For three days he has lived at a North Hollywood shelter run by the nonprofit Los Angeles Family Housing Corp.

“I’m staying away from slippery places, bad influences,” said Sabo, 38. “This is an opportunity for me. I’m not going to blow it. I don’t know how many chances I got.”

On Saturday, Sabo got another chance: to try to regain his state disability assistance after a free consultation with an attorney from the San Fernando Valley Bar Assn.

The legal group provided free advice at the shelter and donated 2,500 blankets to the needy Saturday as part of its fifth annual Blanket the Homeless project. Several nonprofit organizations that help the homeless and battered women received blankets, as did residents of the Lankershim Boulevard shelter and other needy people who came to the shelter for the day.

About 15 attorneys provided one-on-one free counsel during 10-minute sessions. Many shelter residents had legal questions about probates, child custody battles and how to access criminal records. Those with more complicated problems were referred to San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services.

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“I find residents of homeless shelters are so disenfranchised, that they don’t even know how to begin to access legal help,” said attorney Patricia McCabe, 38. “The paperwork is the biggest obstacle for them . . . a percentage can’t read and don’t even know what they’re looking at.”

McCabe said Sabo’s paperwork was incomplete and prepared incorrectly, which could have prevented a judge from helping him.

“That 10-minute talk will change the prospect of his case,” said McCabe, of Glendale.

Richard Morden said a landlord unfairly forced him to leave his apartment.

On Saturday, Morden received a blanket as well as advice on how to get his apartment back. He also wants to return to his job as an elephant trainer and clown for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Circus, where he said he worked for 35 years.

But Morden, who is missing several teeth, will need to repair his smile.

“My employer said don’t come back if you don’t have your teeth--that really hurts a guy,” said Morden, 54.

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The donated blankets can make the difference between life and death for the recipients, said Joe Zuniga, a shelter volunteer coordinator.

“Whether [the blankets] end up in homeless shelters or in a dark alley, somebody’s going to be using them on a cold night,” Zuniga said. “We still have too many people dying from hypothermia. Hopefully, through this effort we can save some lives.”