Nonprofit sees influx of hurricane victims seeking legal aid

In the wake of recent hurricanes, a local nonprofit has intensified its efforts to support Florida residents who need legal help.

Bay Area Legal Services is a federally-funded legal aid organization providing free legal assistance to low-income residents in the Tampa Bay area. One of the ways it helps is through its Florida Disaster Legal Aid Helpline. The helpline offers free legal advice and information on matters such as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance, Small Business Administration aid, insurance claims, contractor disputes and housing concerns. 

Jason Susalla, the managing attorney of Bay Area’s disaster relief team, explained that the helpline was established following Hurricane Irma as part of a broader effort to coordinate disaster legal response across the state. 

“The statewide helpline is designed to be like a point of contact for any disaster survivors seeking legal aid assistance,” Susalla said. “One call can get them from wherever they are in the state to the proper resource that can help them with their legal issue.”

The helpline’s importance has been underscored by the recent declaration of major disasters in 17 Florida counties, including six in the Greater Tampa Bay Area. As demand for legal assistance continues to grow, Bay Area Legal Services remains committed to providing essential support to help survivors rebuild their lives and regain stability.

“Our helpline was once a quiet little line,” Susalla said, describing how the resource has evolved significantly since its inception. Prior to Hurricane Debbie, the line received only a handful of calls per day, primarily from survivors of previous storms like Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Ian. The turning point came when the helpline became part of the FEMA disaster declaration’s Disaster Legal Services (DLS) program, facilitated through the American Bar Association’s young lawyers division.

This expansion meant that FEMA began distributing the helpline’s number at disaster recovery centers, dramatically increasing call volume. By mid-October, the helpline was averaging about 80 calls per day, a substantial increase.

“Of course, prior to Debbie, we had not seen any sort of volume increase anything close to what we did [this year],” Susalla recalled. “It’s a rarity, to say the very least, to experience three hurricanes nearly consecutively. So the uniqueness of these particular incidents caused an explosion in our volume, for which we were inundated with applicants.”

As demand surged, so did Bay Area Legal Service’s backlog of cases – all people needing help with a wide range of legal issues that arise in the wake of disasters.

“Shortly after a disaster, in the immediate response and early recovery phase, we see a lot of landlord-tenant issues,” Susalla said. “Shortly after that, we see a lot of FEMA applicants come in, whether they’re trying to figure out what’s going on their application, need help applying, have received a request for additional information or flat out been denied assistance. These are a lot of what’s going on now, but as time continues on and we get into more long-term recovery, we’ll see contractor and insurance issues develop.”

To meet this surge in demand, Bay Area Legal Services recently received a $25,000 grant from Community Foundation Tampa Bay. The grant, which Susalla described as “a wonderful save,” helped the nonprofit hire an additional call screener to clear backlogs and respond more efficiently to the influx of incoming calls.

“The services provided by Bay Area Legal are crucial in helping individuals rebuild not just their homes, but their lives, by ensuring access to justice, protecting vulnerable communities from exploitation, and navigating the complex legal challenges that arise in the aftermath of disaster,” said Katie Shultz, Senior Director of Community Investments at Community Foundation Tampa Bay. 

“Through this helpline, Bay Area Legal Services is providing a lifeline for residents impacted by the hurricanes, empowering individuals to overcome legal obstacles, secure essential resources, and rebuild their futures with the support they need to navigate a system that can often be overwhelming and inaccessible,” Shultz added.

Susalla emphasized the importance of these services for vulnerable communities, especially following a natural disaster, noting that educating people about their rights and empowering them to advocate for themselves is often the most powerful effect his team sees. 

“There are so many ways that folks can be taken advantage of, and a disaster just compounds that issue more significantly,” Susalla explained. “Access to justice is such an important factor to help people stabilize their lives because it’s not just about putting a band-aid on a situation; it’s about rectifying systemic issues.”

The Florida Disaster Legal Aid Helpline is available at (833) 514-2940. Bay Area Legal Services also operates senior and veterans legal helplines. You can learn more about their services at bals.org/help.

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