Legal Aid cuts travel budget

SANDPOINT — Low-income area residents can no longer get free legal help at the Bonner Community Food Center.

Idaho Legal Aid, which provided that advice, has stopped its monthly trips from Coeur d’Alene to Bonners Ferry and Sandpoint after losing some of its funding, including its travel budget, said Alice Wallace, Bonner Community Food Center director.

Between one and eight Bonner County families sought Legal Aid’s help every month through those visits, Wallace said.

Typically people are seeking advice involving domestic violence, child support, housing  problems between renters and landlords, and custody issues, she said.

Idaho Legal Aid will continue to address those issues, but people seeking advice will have to make a long distance telephone call or write its Coeur d’Alene office, Wallace said.

If someone cannot afford to make a lengthy call, he or she can leave a brief message and have the call returned, she said.

Contact Idaho Legal Aid in Coeur d’Alene at 667-9559 or 410 Sherman Ave., No. 303, 83814. The Idaho Volunteer Lawyers program (1-800-221-3295) also can provide the same assistance as Legal Aid.