Savannah is a hardworking-mother and caretaker. She runs an in-home daycare in order to be able to provide for her 8-year old son, Oliver. Because Oliver has behavioral and eating disorders, Savannah must take him to regular medical appointments. These frequent trips to the doctor made running an in-home daycare difficult—but closing the daycare was not an option since it was Savannah’s only source of income. Savannah reached out to the Legal Council for Health Justice, an organization that provided her with support when she found out she was HIV positive.

Advocates at the Legal Council concluded that fighting for Social Security (Children’s SSI) payments was the best option for Savannah’s case. The judge granted disability benefits be awarded for Oliver’s conditions, allowing Savannah to hire an assistant to supervise the daycare when she takes her son to appointments. Social Security benefits provide crucial support to families. Because of Oliver’s Social Security payments, he can make every appointment, and Savannah doesn’t need to worry about missing a paycheck.

Legal Council for Health Justice (formerly AIDS Legal Council of Chicago) uses the power of  law to secure dignity, opportunity and well-being for people facing barriers due to illness or disability. The Legal Council provides clients with efficient, personalized, and professional legal services by developing a plan to address their concerns and then putting that plan in motion. Through their work with individual clients, the Legal Council identifies opportunities where education and system advocacy can be the most effective to create meaningful, beneficial changes in the lives of their clients.