Justice in June Giving Days 2025

Livia Arvuga raised three children. She is the primary caretaker for her adult son Robert, who was born with a progressive genetic condition called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Now 29 years old, Robert requires extensive medical equipment, including a ventilator, G-tube for feeding, and a lift is attached to his medical bed, which is used so that his mother can address his bedding, wound care, and to put him in his electric wheelchair.

In 2020, Livia found a house to rent that could accommodate Robert’s medical equipment, visiting nurses, and additional needs.

Unfortunately, just two years later, a new owner purchased the home she rented. When the new landlord informed Livia that she had to move; Livia was unable to find a unit that could accommodate Robert’s needs. Meanwhile, the landlord stopped making repairs to the property. This caused the unit to fail inspection three times, putting the family’s housing voucher in jeopardy.

Livia’s new landlord began eviction proceedings in the spring of 2023. Recognizing that the family needed legal intervention, one of Robert’s medical providers at UMass Memorial Medical Center referred Livia to CLA’s Medical-Legal Project Coordinating Attorney Marina Abraham.

Attorney Abraham teamed up with Michelin Cahill, Senior Supervising Attorney for CLA’s Fair Housing Project. After months of settlement talks, court hearings, and accommodation requests, the eviction case went to trial.

At the trial, Attorney Cahill first elicited testimony from Worcester Housing Authority about the landlord’s failure to repair defective conditions. Next, Attorney Cahill called Robert’s doctor, who testified to Robert’s conditions, his end-stage prognosis, and the risk to his life that a move would pose.

At that point, the landlord’s attorney asked the court for a break and the attorneys worked out a settlement.

Under the settlement agreement, Robert and Livia will be allowed to remain in the home for the remainder of Robert’s life. Livia will then have an additional six months to move after Robert passes away. The landlord also agreed to fix the remaining condition issues and sign the necessary paperwork for reinstatement of Livia’s housing voucher.

This case took a tremendous amount of time and coordination between CLA staff and the UMass Memorial health providers to present a winning case for Livia and Robert. The family can now focus on the remainder of their time with Robert.

Livia said, “I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have been represented by your office. I know that your work has made a lasting difference in my life, my family’s life, and many others.

“The work you do is truly essential. It continues to inspire me, and I am forever grateful for that.”

Read more stories like this one in Community Legal Aid's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report.

“I'm a single mom, I run my own business, and about a year ago I could not have told you what Community Legal Aid was or what it does. Today I could not be more appreciative of them.

In the summer of 2023, a man I had been dating for a short time broke into my home–he literally broke the door down. The police came and he was charged. Sadly, before he was convicted and held responsible for the damage he caused, he passed away.

Since my landlord could no longer hold this man responsible for the costs of the damage to my apartment’s door, they instead came after me for the damages. I live paycheck to paycheck and there was no way I could afford to pay for it.

For over a year, the landlord harassed me for this money. When I didn’t pay, the landlord then went so far as to add this bill to my rent ledger. I have never missed a rent payment, but last year my landlord took me to court to try to evict me, saying that the money to fix the door was back rent.

I knew that I shouldn’t be held accountable for the damage that someone else had done, but I didn’t know how to advocate for myself or how to navigate the process. What I did know is that if they managed to succeed with an eviction my son and I would probably be homeless.

On the day of my hearing, I went to Greenfield Housing Court, and found CLA Attorney Uri Strauss, who was the lawyer for the day.

Attorney Strauss sat with me and listened to everything. Because the damage to the door was a result of domestic violence, he explained that legally it was not my responsibility to pay for it. With Attorney Strauss advocating for me, the landlord agreed to take the money off my ledger, which meant that I was fully up to date on rent, and the eviction was dropped.

Housing court is very intimidating to someone who is not familiar with it. All along I knew that what was happening was unfair, but I didn’t know how to fight it before I was helped by CLA.”