The Neighborhood Advocacy program serves St. Louis area residents and community-based organizations to prevent and reduce vacancy and property abandonment.

Learn more about the work of Neighborhood Advocacy with this short video.

Services provided:

Problem Property Litigation:

Represents qualifying neighborhood organizations in lawsuits against absentee owners of vacant, blighted properties, to force the sale, transfer, or improvement of property.

Family Property: 
Assists low-income clients with fractured land title problems (heirs’ property) that contribute to property abandonment. Free legal assistance available to low-income and senior homeowners for beneficiary (transfer on death) deeds and simple estate planning.

Title Clearance:
Assists nonprofits with clearing land titles for affordable housing development.

Community Education & Technical Assistance:
Available for community education and technical assistance on topics related to community revitalization, land titles, tax foreclosure, and property abandonment.

In 2023, Neighborhood Advocacy, formerly known as the Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative, celebrated five years of providing community support and neighborhood revitalization.
Check out their work over the past five years in this special publication.

Click on the image to open and download your pdf copy now.

 For more information about Neighborhood Advocacy, contact:

 314.256.8778

neighborhoods@lsem.org

Staff

Peter Hoffman, Managing Attorney

Caroline Biedenstein, Paralegal/Administrative Assistant
Anna Carlsson, Staff Attorney
Brittany Hubbard, Staff Attorney
Demetria Hunter, Paralegal
Molly LePage, Paralegal/Administrative Assistant
TJ Pearson, Staff Attorney
Vannah Shaw, Staff Attorney
Rachel Waterman, Senior Staff Attorney

To find your local neighborhood organization, visit: https://www.stlvacancy.com/communitymap.html

If you are a law firm interested in partnering with an urban neighborhood to reduce blighted and abandoned property, please contact us to discuss opportunities.

Neighborhood Advocacy is a proud member of the St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative. For more information and to see a map of vacant properties, visit www.stlvacancy.com.

Neighborhood Advocacy  is also a proud partner of the St. Louis Real Estate Tax Relief Coalition. For more information or to make a contribution, visit www.RETAF.org.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri can provide Marketplace enrollment assistance to
qualifying families who have children living in the household. This includes families
and children whose non-citizen status bars them for receiving Medicaid for 5 years.

To see if you are eligible for help from Connecting Kids to Coverage  call us at 314.256.8735.

To apply for coverage with Marketplace, CLICK HERE or call 1.800.318.2596

To find local assistance with your application CLICK HERE or call 1.800.466.3213

What is the Marketplace?
The Marketplace is a website that lets people compare and buy for the health insurance plan that best fits their budget and needs. You can use the Marketplace if you are an individual or family who doesn’t have access to affordable health insurance coverage through an employer.

What kinds of financial help are available?
You may qualify for no-cost or low-cost health insurance through the Marketplace. Premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions help make healthcare more affordable. Premium tax credits lower the cost of the monthly premium you pay for your insurance, and cost-sharing reductions lower your out-of-pocket expenses when you need medical care.

This financial help uses a sliding scale, so individuals and families making less money pay a smaller amount for both health insurance and health care.

Other helpful resources:

• Health Reform FAQ: Answers about the new health insurance rules and the Health Insurance Marketplace from the Kaiser Family Foundation
• Subsidy Calculator: gives an estimate of what financial help you can get for health insurance purchased through the Marketplace.
• Healthcare.gov: Find out more about your health insurance options and how to apply for coverage.

Legal Services of Eastern Missouri is a member of the Cover Missouri Coalition, a project of the Missouri Foundation for Health to promote quality, affordable health coverage for every Missourian.

The Union Office provides a full range of services to qualified low-income residents of Franklin, Montgomery, Warren, and Washington Counties and family law cases in Lincoln County.

With the St. Louis Office, the Union Office can also help with:

• Orders of Protection
• Divorces
• Paternity/custody cases and modifications
• Consumer law and debtor/creditor problems
• Landlord/tenant or other housing issues
• Public benefits cases, including Medicaid
• Immigration cases
• Special Education needs

The Union Office partners with, and provides referrals to, community agencies including:

• ALIVE – 636.583.5700 or 800.941.9144 – alivestl.org
• Bridgeway Behavioral Health – 877-462-1758 – bridgewaybh.com
• Turning Point – 888-873-7233 – turingpointdvs.com
• Franklin County United Way – 636.239.1018 – franklincountyuw.org
• Jefferson Franklin Community Action Corp. – 636.789.2686 – jfcac.org
• North East Community Action Corporation – 636.456.2933 – necac.org

Counties Served

Franklin, Lincoln, Montgomery, Warren and Washington

Staff:

Jon Althauser, Managing Attorney

Jo Boggs, Staff Attorney
Rhonda Campbell, Paralegal
Kimberly Finnegan, Rural Social Work Advocate/Attorney

Contact us at:

866.583.7877
636.583.7877
www.lsem.org

 We help with public benefits, including Food Stamps and Medicaid (also called MO HealthNet for the Aged, Blind and Disabled). If your benefits are ending or your application is denied, we can help with advice about what to do next. If needed, we can represent you at a hearing.

IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT MISSOURI SNAP BENEFITS:

As of right now, Missouri does not have the funds to pay out November SNAP benefits.

Family Support Division (FSD) is NOT sending out notices to inform people about this freeze to SNAP benefits. They have however issued updates at: https://mydss.mo.gov/federal-shutdown-impacts .

Please share this link with anyone currently receiving SNAP benefits, so they have all information available about the freeze in benefits.

Note that benefits already paid onto EBT cards will remain there till spent. This is affecting SNAP benefits only and TANF benefits will continue as normal.

Information about local food pantries can be found on the STL Area Foodbank search engine at: https://stlfoodbank.org/ . Enter your zip code to get a list of the food pantries closest to you.

Services We Provide:

• Food Stamp applications and appeals
• Medicaid applications and appeals
• Medicaid service denials
• Medicaid surplus for nursing home residents
• Blind Pension applications and appeals
• TANF and Childcare Assistance applications and appeals
• Medicare issues

Counties We Serve

Adair; Clark; Franklin; Jefferson; Knox; Lewis; Lincoln; Macon; Marion; Monroe; Montgomery; Pike; Ralls; St. Charles; St. Louis County; St. Louis City; Schuyler; Scotland; Shelby; Warren and Washington

Contact Us At:

314.534.4200
or
800.444.0514
www.lsem.org

Staff
Jamie Rodriguez, Managing Attorney – Health & Welfare Programs
Katherine Holley, Program Director

Leslie Calandro, Senior Paralegal
Lakitsa “Pinky” Hunter, Senior Public Benefits Specialist
Claire Riebling, Social Worker

CLICK HERE to learn more about SuN Bucks with a pdf flyer

HAGA CLIC AQUI para ver el folleto SuN Bucks en Espanol

CLICK HERE to learn more about Missouri’s W.I.C. Supplemental Nutrition Program

The Youth and Family Advocacy Program assists youth and families experiencing homelessness and housing instability by providing supportive case management and civil legal assistance.

We can help with:

• Getting legal documents such as birth certificates, State ID and Social Security cards
• Legal assistance for LGBTQIA+ youth, including legal name changes and gender marker changes
• Housing Issues
• Public benefits such as TANF, Food Stamps, health coverage, child care assistance, unemployment and other benefits
• Municipal tickets and warrants
• Youth credit problems, debt collection and identity theft
• Family law issues including custody, paternity and orders of protection
• Accessing medical and mental health services, banking, shelter or other services for unaccompanied minors
• And possibly more…

We may be able to help if you:

• Live in St. Louis City or St. Louis County, and
• Are an unaccompanied youth, age 19 or younger, experiencing homelessness or at-risk of becoming homeless, or
• Are a family with children ages 19 or younger and at-risk of homelessness or becoming homeless

Contact Us:

If you have any questions, or believe you or someone you know would benefit from our services, please feel free to reach out to us via phone at 314.860.5156, via email at youthnowstl@lsem.org, or by filling out a quick inquiry form HERE

Community Partnerships

If you are an agency that serves St. Louis City or St. Louis County youth and are interested in partnering or learning more about outreach opportunities, please contact us at youthnowstl@lsem.org

Staff:
Dan Underwood, Managing Attorney

Kim Carlson, Outreach Coordinator
Tori Dempsey, Program Director
Kristyn Young, Social Worker