By Saly Boury, HAC Summer Legal Intern
When I was a kid, my mother and I would stop by the Emeryville Citizens Assistance Program food bank before visiting my aunt, who lived in Emeryville. We would wait in this long line in a half-abandoned parking lot with some people pushing shopping carts and others carrying one big bag with smaller bags studded inside. My mother and I opted for a cardboard box – small enough to carry while walking for 20 minutes and wide enough to fit everything we could get.
Across the street from this chic open-air shopping experience was just a random building. Little did I know that about ten years later, I would be inside that very building, completing my first law school internship. Well . . . not exactly.
While I am interning with HAC, I am currently working at the Berkeley office. Working at HAC is my first experience in the field of disability law, and before it, I thought disability law applied to only:
- Individuals with disabilities since birth who need legal assistance; and
- Individuals who experience an accident, become disabled, and now want to sue whoever caused their injuries.
Eight weeks have passed since my first day on the job, and I can profoundly say I do not think that anymore. HAC has taught me about what Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) actually mean, how long and messy the application process can be, and how life-changing a legal win can be for someone who has been stuck in the system for years. No lectures or thick case book, I learned about disability law directly through hands-on work by attending intake meetings, reviewing medical records, shadowing during drop-in office hours, or joining the HAC Outreach Team for encampment outreach. Although I did have to attend more trainings than I can count, it was worth it.
On top of the invaluable experience, I was incredibly fortunate to receive a Legal Aid Leaders Fellowship (LALF) grant from HAC through funding from the State Bar of California, which made this internship possible for me. Since HAC internships start out as unpaid and I rely solely on financial aid for my housing and transportation expenses, finding a way to support myself financially was crucial. This LALF grant allowed me to pay my rent, put gas in my car, and focus fully on my work.
All I could think about was the clients HAC interacts with every day and how much housing insecurity can be the backdrop of so many problems in a person’s life.
Not worrying about where I had to live this summer meant I could truly dedicate myself. I know that HAC has made me a better person because as I wrote that last sentence, all I could think about was the clients HAC interacts with every day and how much housing insecurity can be the backdrop of so many problems in a person’s life.
HAC has genuinely reminded me why I went to law school in the first place. I want to help people. Like, actually help them – fix the mess, get the win, make the scary paperwork disappear. I want to be someone who people call when everything is falling apart and who can say, “Okay, I got you.” I know it’s easier said than done but interning at HAC has amplified the desire ten times over.
So, here’s to the younger me in that parking lot, waiting in line for free delicacies like canned peaches and prepackaged scones. I never imagined I would one day be across the street attending a How to File an SSI Claim training – but I’m so glad that’s how it turned out. HAC has given me everything I didn’t know I needed this summer: purpose, perspective, a healthy work environment, and a full-circle moment. What more could I have asked for? . . . Maybe a nationwide social security benefits system that relieves suffering, not one that demands it as proof of need.