The Alberta Law Foundation proudly supports organizations that provide critical legal assistance to vulnerable populations. From helping refugees targeted by scams to securing benefits for individuals with mental health challenges, these programs make life-changing impacts every day.  Here are just a few stories that demonstrate the help we provide: 

"We assisted four Syrian refugees who were scammed by a private college.  Income Support blamed the refugees for being scammed rather than the college.  They tried to have the refugees criminally charged with fraud and when that failed they imposed financial penalties.  We became involved and all of the financial penalties were reversed on appeal. The sad not to this story is that we know there were many more refugees targeted with this scam we could have helped but only a few came to us.

Colton worked with Murray. Murray is not always pleasant to work with.  He is often angry.  However, Murray has dementia.  He came to us about an appeal, and he was not even sure who the opposing party was in the appeal.  Murray had an overpayment of $10,000.  With our assistance, the overpayment was reduced to zero.  We know that without our assistance, Murray would have been unsuccessful.

Robert is an Indigenous man who was on the verge of eviction.  He came to use because he had been cut off the Additional Shelter Allowance in 2022.  Due to anxiety and mental health issues he was unable to schedule an appeal.  We work with him and scheduled the appeal.  Brenda worked with him to ensure he stayed housed.  At the appeal, we were able to successfully argue that Income Support owed him over $8,000 which they have since paid.

Michael was denied AISH and often spoke of suicide and assisted suicide as a means of alleviating his suffering.  He had chronic pain and mental health issues.  However, his greatest issue was deep poverty.  AISH said he did not have enough to prove he was severely handicapped but Colton was successful in his appeal.

Sajjad speaks little English.  His wife thought they had done everything right in terms of Income Support.  She juggles managing the family finances and caring for Sajjad, who is in ill health and their adult son, who has an intellectual disability.  Brenna was able to argue that Sajjad. Farzana made a mistake, and it meant the family owed income support $8,800. Brenna was able to have that reduced to $1,900.  This is an amount they will be able to pay off in 2 or three years.

Aziz was denied AISH.  His mental health issues came after he tried to overdose and kill himself with a mixture of illegal drugs…at least that’s the way he remembers it now.  AISH said he might get better.  Aziz sees demons around him every day. In his room. Sometimes they sit on his chest and tell him to do things. Brenda worked with Aziz, and we were able to get Aziz AISH.

Nate’s parents said he was always a little different.  In his late teens, he was diagnosed with autism.  Nate is overwhelmed easily and struggles to interact.   Nate rarely said much to us and did not like to interact directly.  ASIH said that it was too soon to determine if Nate’s condition would be long-term.  During the appeal, Brenna was able to argue that Nate met the criteria for AISH.  Nate’s parents wrote me to tell me how happy they were because they worried about how Nate would survive financially if something happened to them.

Allen could not attend his appeal.  He worried that the FBI would find him.  Allen doesn’t trust anyone.  We shared Allen’s story with the Panel.  Explained why he could not attend. How he has had various diagnoses over the years.  No one really knows what Allen’s condition is called.  The name is not important. We just know it began when he was 6. His mom was sexually assaulted, and the man who did it talked to Allen as he assaulted her. Life got worse for Allen from there. Allen still lives on the streets to avoid those watching him, but he does so without an overpayment of $10,0000 that the Director sought.

The stories don’t stop.  As we speak, we are assisting an individual who was viciously tortured because of his gender identity. He witnessed mock executions.  He has physical scars from torture and the mental scars from the simulated drowning of waterboarding. A man who relied on his trustee to manage his financial affairs only to be told he now has an overpayment of $85,000. Another who has been told by AISH that he could still work as he struggles with anxiety, dizziness, mood changes and confusion after part of his frontal lobe was removed.

These are just a few of the stories that keep us going. When we succeed, we celebrate briefly and move on to the next.  There are some where we don’t succeed but we do our best.  We know that the people we help can’t succeed without us. We try to give people a fighting chance."