Community Legal Services brings 60th-anniversary celebration to Spring Hill park

Hernando County residents who cannot afford a private lawyer for a civil legal problem will have a free chance to meet Community Legal Services at Anderson Snow Park in Spring Hill, where the nonprofit will hold its 60th-anniversary celebration from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 25.

The event is part of a county-by-county outreach tour marking the organization’s 60 years of service. Community Legal Services was founded in 1966 as Volusia County Legal Services and says it now provides civil legal assistance across 12 Central Florida counties: Brevard, Citrus, Flagler, Hernando, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Putnam, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia.

For Hernando families, the practical message is bigger than the celebration. Florida courts say people with civil legal problems who cannot afford an attorney may be eligible for help from legal aid organizations, and The Florida Bar says those organizations provide free or low-cost legal services to people with low incomes. That can matter in cases involving housing, family law, benefits and other noncriminal disputes that can quickly destabilize a household when no lawyer is within reach.

Community Legal Services says its mission is to enhance the lives of the people it serves through legal support, assistance and education. The organization has also described its work as “Legal Access For All,” a message it is taking directly into the communities it serves rather than waiting for residents to find their way to an office on their own.

Spring Hill is the Hernando County stop on a schedule that also lists Lake County on May 9, Sumter County on June 13, Flagler County on July 11, Brevard County on August 8, Marion County on September 12, Putnam County on October 10 and Orange County in November, with that date still to be determined. The anniversary year also includes legal clinics and advice clinics elsewhere in the region.

The Hernando celebration will take place at Anderson Snow Park, 1360 Anderson Snow Rd. in Spring Hill, a public park with picnic shelters, playgrounds, restrooms, walking trails and a splash park. Hernando County lists the park as open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the choice of venue keeps the anniversary event local, visible and easy for residents to reach.

For people who have been putting off a housing fight, a family law problem or a benefits issue because legal help seemed out of reach, the stop at Anderson Snow Park is designed to make civil justice feel a little closer to home.