
May 2008
Fresh new look for the LSS website Have you explored the new LSS website yet? If not, you’ll be greeted by a friendly new look that reflects BC's diversity. But looks aren't the only thing we've changed. It's now easier than ever to find the information you need: you can search by who you are, what you want to do, and what you’re looking for. Responding to feedback, we've created a new Community workers section on the website, containing the LSS resources available to you and your clients. We expect this section to expand over time, so keep watching. Other features include a direct link on the homepage to our new Multilingual Publications section, making it easier for people who speak languages other than English to find our translated materials. The Publications section of the site is easier to use, allowing you to search by subject, language, and title. Different publications will be featured on a regular basis where you can immediately see them. The site will keep evolving over time, so expect to see and hear audio and video clips in the near future. Note: If you bookmarked pages of the previous LSS website, those links will now be broken. Please visit the new site to find your favourite resources. New translations of old favourites We've recently expanded and updated several of our publications in languages other than English. We've also just released our first publication in Tagalog, Benefits and Services for Seniors. Recently revised versions of the booklet are also available in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Punjabi. Benefits and Services for Seniors gives immigrant seniors the information they need to access benefits and help available in the areas of healthcare, housing, income security, wills and agreements, protection from abuse, transportation, and interpretation and community services. Editions in Farsi, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese will follow later this year. Also updated are the Chinese and Punjabi translations of For Your Protection. Produced by the Legal Services Society and the Ministry of Solicitor General, this booklet is useful for anyone seeking a restraining order or a peace bond because they fear violence from a former partner or spouse. You can also now get the revised version of Legal Aid Can Help in French or Spanish. This booklet explains the services we offer and gives examples of how those services have helped people in the past. To read our publications online, go to the Publications section of the LSS website. To order a publication, e-mail Distribution. Please be sure to include the publication title(s), the number of copies, and a shipping address. We've also got Spanish videos Three videos in Spanish are available for viewing on the Family Law in BC website. The three videos, Haga Su Propio Divorcio (Do Your Own Divorce), Solicitudes Internas de Esponsoramiento (Inland Sponsoring Applications), and Ruptura del Contrato de Esponsoramiento (Sponsorship Breakdown), feature dramatizations of issues that face both the Spanish-speaking community and the community at large in BC. We’ve updated our welfare publications Two of our popular welfare booklets, Your Welfare Rights: A Guide to BC Employment and Assistance, and Social Assistance on Reserve in British Columbia have recently been updated and are now available for ordering (see below). Your Welfare Rights is for people in BC who receive welfare, are applying for welfare, or are thinking of applying for welfare. It is a useful overview of welfare rights and responsibilities for advocates and others helping people to deal with the welfare system. Your Welfare Rights explains: how to apply for welfare; how to become and stay eligible for welfare; what benefits are available; how to access other benefits, like crisis supplements, training supplements, and medical benefits; how to appeal a ministry decision; and how to get more information or help. This booklet also highlights information about Persons with Disabilities benefits and contains useful tips throughout. Social Assistance on Reserve in British Columbia has been updated to include new social assistance benefit rates as of February 2008. The publication describes the rules about social assistance for anyone who lives on reserve in BC, even if you aren’t a First Nations person. The booklet also explains: how social assistance on reserve works, what social assistance benefits you can get on reserve, how to get social assistance on reserve, what to do if you are turned down for benefits, and how to get more information and help. To read our publications online, go to the Publications section of the LSS website. To order a publication, e-mail Distribution. Please be sure to include the publication title(s), the number of copies, and a shipping address. Featured case: Help for a senior facing foreclosure A single woman approaching retirement had used her savings to purchase a home close to her job. She then lost her job and had difficulty making the mortgage payments. When she fell three months behind with payments, the bank started foreclosure proceedings. The woman was very concerned that she would lose her home, even though she had a credible plan to raise the money to catch up with her payments. She called LawLINE for help. A staff member faxed the woman the LSS booklet Can’t Pay Your Mortgage? What You Can Do If You're Facing Foreclosure, and then guided her over the phone through the steps of filing an Appearance and drafting a Response and Affidavit in support. As a result, the caller was hopeful that she could gather the funds to redeem her mortgage and save her home. To read Can't Pay Your Mortgage? online, go to the Publications section of the LSS website. To order a copy, e-mail Distribution. Please be sure to include the publication title, the number of copies, and a shipping address. To find out more about LawLINE, go to the LSS website.

May 2008

Fresh new look for the LSS website

Have you explored the new LSS website yet? If not, you’ll be greeted by a friendly new look that reflects BC's diversity. But looks aren't the only thing we've changed. It's now easier than ever to find the information you need: you can search by who you are, what you want to do, and what you’re looking for.

Responding to feedback, we've created a new Community workers section on the website, containing the LSS resources available to you and your clients. We expect this section to expand over time, so keep watching.

Other features include a direct link on the homepage to our new Multilingual Publications section, making it easier for people who speak languages other than English to find our translated materials. The Publications section of the site is easier to use, allowing you to search by subject, language, and title. Different publications will be featured on a regular basis where you can immediately see them.

The site will keep evolving over time, so expect to see and hear audio and video clips in the near future.

Note: If you bookmarked pages of the previous LSS website, those links will now be broken. Please visit the new site to find your favourite resources.

New translations of old favourites

We've recently expanded and updated several of our publications in languages other than English. We've also just released our first publication in Tagalog, Benefits and Services for Seniors. Recently revised versions of the booklet are also available in Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Punjabi. Benefits and Services for Seniors gives immigrant seniors the information they need to access benefits and help available in the areas of healthcare, housing, income security, wills and agreements, protection from abuse, transportation, and interpretation and community services. Editions in Farsi, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese will follow later this year.

Also updated are the Chinese and Punjabi translations of For Your Protection. Produced by the Legal Services Society and the Ministry of Solicitor General, this booklet is useful for anyone seeking a restraining order or a peace bond because they fear violence from a former partner or spouse.

You can also now get the revised version of Legal Aid Can Help in French or Spanish. This booklet explains the services we offer and gives examples of how those services have helped people in the past.

To read our publications online, go to the Publications section of the LSS website. To order a publication, e-mail Distribution. Please be sure to include the publication title(s), the number of copies, and a shipping address.

We've also got Spanish videos

Three videos in Spanish are available for viewing on the Family Law in BC website. The three videos, Haga Su Propio Divorcio (Do Your Own Divorce), Solicitudes Internas de Esponsoramiento (Inland Sponsoring Applications), and Ruptura del Contrato de Esponsoramiento (Sponsorship Breakdown), feature dramatizations of issues that face both the Spanish-speaking community and the community at large in BC.

We’ve updated our welfare publications

Two of our popular welfare booklets, Your Welfare Rights: A Guide to BC Employment and Assistance, and Social Assistance on Reserve in British Columbia have recently been updated and are now available for ordering (see below).

Your Welfare Rights is for people in BC who receive welfare, are applying for welfare, or are thinking of applying for welfare. It is a useful overview of welfare rights and responsibilities for advocates and others helping people to deal with the welfare system.

Your Welfare Rights explains:

how to apply for welfare;
how to become and stay eligible for welfare;
what benefits are available;
how to access other benefits, like crisis supplements, training supplements, and medical benefits;
how to appeal a ministry decision; and
how to get more information or help.

This booklet also highlights information about Persons with Disabilities benefits and contains useful tips throughout.

Social Assistance on Reserve in British Columbia has been updated to include new social assistance benefit rates as of February 2008. The publication describes the rules about social assistance for anyone who lives on reserve in BC, even if you aren’t a First Nations person.

The booklet also explains:

how social assistance on reserve works,
what social assistance benefits you can get on reserve,
how to get social assistance on reserve,
what to do if you are turned down for benefits, and
how to get more information and help.

Featured case: Help for a senior facing foreclosure

A single woman approaching retirement had used her savings to purchase a home close to her job. She then lost her job and had difficulty making the mortgage payments. When she fell three months behind with payments, the bank started foreclosure proceedings.

The woman was very concerned that she would lose her home, even though she had a credible plan to raise the money to catch up with her payments. She called LawLINE for help. A staff member faxed the woman the LSS booklet Can’t Pay Your Mortgage? What You Can Do If You're Facing Foreclosure, and then guided her over the phone through the steps of filing an Appearance and drafting a Response and Affidavit in support. As a result, the caller was hopeful that she could gather the funds to redeem her mortgage and save her home.

To read Can't Pay Your Mortgage? online, go to the Publications section of the LSS website. To order a copy, e-mail Distribution. Please be sure to include the publication title, the number of copies, and a shipping address.

To find out more about LawLINE, go to the LSS website.