Legal Aid Services of Oregon (LASO) implemented the Columbia Gorge Outreach Project to extend outreach and legal services to the 20,000 migrant laborers who harvest cherries, apples, and pears in the gorge during June, July, and August each year. The Columbia Gorge is an area that has been historically difficult to serve and, in recent years, outreach and circuit riding duties were split between LASO's Oregon City office and the Pendleton office. These offices are roughly two hours away from the communities being served and inaccessible for most of the intended clients. Recently, LASO hired an Equal Justice Works (EJW) fellow to work out of office space in The Dalles and Hood River, two communities located in the heart of the Columbia Gorge. The EJW fellow will establish a fixed presence in the gorge and conduct regular outreach visits to the labor camps in the gorge as well as network with food banks, migrant health clinics, migrant head start and other local social services providers to ensure they are aware of LASO's services and the process for making referrals. Over her two year fellowship, LASO hopes to establish greater visibility and therefore a stronger referral network within the gorge. Since implementing the project in the fall of 2002, LASO has found this arrangement much more successful than circuit riding and hopes to replicate this approach in other areas of the state with underserved migrant populations. To learn more about the EJW fellow and this project, access the EJW's press release below as a PDF document.
Contact Information:
Janice Morgan Legal Aid Services of Oregon Farm Worker Program 230 N.E. Second Hillsboro, OR 97212 Phone: (503) 648-7163 Fax: (503) 648-0513 Email
LSC:
America's Partner for Equal Justice 