Iowa Legal Aid’s Services in Davenport, IA

A Closer Look at Iowa Legal Aid

Iowa Legal Aid is a non-profit organization with a mission to help low-income individuals and families access justice and solve their legal problems. The organization provides free legal help in civil (non-criminal) cases and is the only legal aid organization serving the state of Iowa. With a staff of 42 attorneys, 65 paralegals, and 46 support staff, Iowa Legal Aid serves its clients through offices in Ames, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, and Sioux City.
Iowa Legal Aid serves approximately 25,000 Iowans facing civil legal issues every year with myriad legal issues that include family law , housing, consumer rights, employment, health, disability, benefits, and individual rights. All of Iowa Legal Aid’s services are free to eligible individuals and families; in order to qualify to receive Iowa Legal Aid’s services, individuals must not be able to pay for a lawyer, have an income below 125% of the federal poverty line, and have a legal issue that Iowa Legal Aid handles. Though Iowa Legal Aid provides residents of all 99 counties in Iowa with legal representation and help, the organization’s Davenport office is the only Iowa Legal Aid location in Iowa’s Quad Cities region.

What Iowa Legal Aid Offers in Davenport, IA

Iowa Legal Aid offers an extensive range of civil legal services to eligible residents of Scott County, including both residents of the city of Davenport and the surrounding areas. The organization specializes in assisting individuals and families with several different matters. Family law: Iowa Legal Aid provides legal services for a variety of family law issues, including divorce, spousal support, division of property and debt in divorce and division of pensions or retirement accounts. The organization also assists with child custody issues and visitation rights. Delinquent child support may be collected through the courts, or legal aid may advise clients on filing contempt motions or wage withholding petitions. Housing: The organization’s housing practice helps families and individuals avoid evictions, defend against home foreclosure and live in safe and sanitary housing. Iowa Legal Aid’s housing area is a big part of its work in the Davenport office, protecting both low-income tenants and vulnerable homeowners. Consumer rights and debt: Legal aid assists with home repair contract disputes, debt collection matters, financial abuse of the elderly and other consumer fraud cases, including scams victimizing the elderly and low-income communities. They also assist clients with avoidance of having having their wages garnished and representatives at creditors’ meetings. Benefits: Iowa Legal Aid provides assistance with clients’ Social Security and Supplemental Security Income eligibility, including denial appeals and representation at administrative hearings. The organization also assists with Food Stamp issues, including denials, fraud allegations and overpayment issues.

How to Obtain Legal Aid in Davenport

Of the 61 counties within Iowa, Davenport has more legal aid resources available to the public than most other areas in the state. The four law centers located in Davenport, Iowa, offer various legal services, including the Iowa Legal Aid Center in Davenport, the Mississippi Valley Task Force, Volunteers Lawyers Project, and the Self-Help Law Center.
Clients must meet specific criteria to obtain legal aid services in Davenport. First, potential clients must be low-income individuals in need of legal assistance. Eligibility is given to individuals if their income does not exceed 125 percent of federal poverty levels. Income-based assistance is available to Iowans regardless of the type of legal issue they have.
Applicants must provide basic information when applying for legal aid services in Davenport. Such information includes verifying their name, date of birth, race, gender, marital status, phone number, address, and the income sources received to provide an accurate representation of their financial standing. When the application process requires an in-person visit, it typically takes place at the Iowa Legal Aid Center. Upon completion of the application process, a staff member will conduct an intake interview, which includes asking the applicant a series of questions that help review their case.
Once the intake interview is complete, an attorney will be provided to serve the client’s case. Depending on the type of legal aid service requested, potential clients may receive a referral with a list of necessary steps for obtaining assistance.

Client Testimonials and Success Stories

Iowa Legal Aid has received numerous testimonials over the years from clients whose lives have been positively impacted by the services we provide. One client, who we’ll refer to as Jane in order to respect her privacy, sought assistance from Iowa Legal Aid when she was facing an eviction from her home. As a single mother of two young children, Jane was desperate for help and quickly reached out to the local office in Davenport.
Through our advocacy, Jane was able to not only keep her home but also secure compensation from her landlord due to unsafe living conditions that posed health risks to her children. "I don’t know what I would have done without the help from Iowa Legal Aid," said Jane, who credits our team with helping her secure both her family’s safety and a much-needed financial reprieve.
Another success story comes from an elderly couple who contacted Iowa Legal Aid when faced with a foreclosure on their home. After a long hard-fought battle, they were able to negotiate the terms of their mortgage, securing a lower interest rate and extending their repayment term , thus allowing them to stay in their home. "There were days I will admit I lost hope and didn’t think we would be able to remain in our home," said the husband, "but Iowa Legal Aid provided us with the resources and support to keep the place that has meant everything to us for years."
Yet another example is that of a mother who reached out to Iowa Legal Aid seeking help in establishing custody of her son. This mother had been estranged from her son for a number of years and recently reconciled with him. Helping her secure her parental rights and custody of her son was a lengthy process that required litigation in the courts. But, through it all, Iowa Legal Aid was there for her, providing the assistance she needed every step of the way.
These real-life success stories reflect the hands-on experience that many clients have when working with Iowa Legal Aid. Through our compassionate team and unwavering commitment to justice, we are proud of the examples we’ve set to ensure that Iowans receive the help they need.

Challenges Iowa Legal Aid Faces

Like many other legal aid associations throughout the country, Iowa Legal Aid struggles to provide for the needs of low-income and working-class Iowans. Shrinking state, federal, and private grants have crippled legal service organizations nationwide, including Iowa Legal Aid.
The most acute challenge facing Iowa Legal Aid is that demand heavily outweighs available services. This problem has only gotten worse as the economy has deteriorated since 2008. Iowa Legal Aid serves over 50,000 Iowans each year, yet the demand in the Quad Cities alone is considered substantially higher than our capacity to meet the need. This great need also means that qualifying for our services is becoming an increasing burden on our attorneys. Every one of Iowa Legal Aid’s 14 offices in the state must turn away hundreds of individuals each year due to a lack of funds and volunteers. If an individual qualifies for our services, that does not mean they will receive a referral; there is often no attorney able to assist. Iowa Legal Aid tries to rise to the challenges created by budget cuts and an increasing backlog of cases through the recruitment of volunteers, pro bono attorneys, and a limited number of private attorneys who can refer cases to us.
The effects of COVID-19 are still being felt throughout the region, including increasing demand for legal services. Our office, like our partners, is focused on helping clients with their immediate needs resulting from this pandemic, but we are briefly pausing new intakes for non-pandemic related issues until we are able to reopen our in-person access.

How to Contribute to Iowa Legal Aid in Davenport

While Iowa Legal Aid operates primarily by using their funds, spaces, and utilities efficiently with a solid group of 67 attorneys and housing/credit counselors, they firmly believe contributions from members of our wonderful community also make legal aid an ongoing reality. In fact, Iowa Legal Aid primarily serves the neediest residents of Iowa, who are making less than 125% of the federal poverty guidelines, which is a monthly salary of $1,611 for an individual, $2,179 for a couple without children, and $2,755 for a family of four (including two children).
But, ILA could not make ends meet—in a state where nearly a quarter of the working-age population is currently unemployed—without the generous support of kind individuals like you. Individuals can help by donating to ILA or volunteering , organizations can support Iowa Legal Aid by joining and donating to The Real Estate Coalition, and everyone can support Iowa Legal Aid by advocating.
Individual donations help support the huge difference ILA makes to the people of Iowa. Legal aid is not government funded—it relies on your generosity to continue helping all those who desperately need help but cannot afford it. Through our sliding scale pricing model, legal aid is available to all Iowans regardless of age, gender, culture, ability, disability, or income level.
You can even sign up for a payroll deduction through your employer to make your donation to ILA as easy as possible. Just provide ILA with the information needed to process the donation and they’ll take it from there.