{"id":2798,"date":"2025-09-03T16:33:59","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T20:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/?p=2798"},"modified":"2025-09-04T09:08:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T13:08:31","slug":"carolina-law-students-offer-legal-aid-to-hurricane-helene-survivors-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/carolina-law-students-offer-legal-aid-to-hurricane-helene-survivors-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Law students offer legal aid to Hurricane Helene survivors\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Cole Voorhies<\/a>, Meghan Moran<\/a>\u202f\u201916, \u201919 (JD), and pro bono students<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While many college students sought relaxation during spring break, eight UNC School of Law students traveled to the mountains of Western North Carolina to assist communities still recovering from Hurricane Helene. The team spent March 10-13 providing free legal consultations to residents struggling with Federal Emergency Management Agency appeals, insurance disputes, and rebuilding complications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were able to serve a good number of people,\u201d said\u202fMeghan Moran<\/a>\u202f\u201916, \u201919 (JD), director of pro bono initiatives, whose leadership recently earned Carolina Law recognition as the\u202fonly law school nationwide named a 2024 Pro Bono Leader by the American Bar Association<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip began on March 10 with team building on an Alpine coaster. That evening, Carolina Law alumni Jim Deal \u201974 and Tucker Deal \u201914 joined the students for dinner, sharing their firsthand experiences as Western North Carolina residents affected by Hurricane Helene. Jim Deal, chair of the\u202fLaw Alumni Association<\/a>\u202fnominating committee, supported the students’ efforts to help his community by serving as a supervising attorney on the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following comprehensive training in disaster-related legal issues and trauma sensitivity, the students established legal clinics in Burnsville on March 11 and Boone on March 12. They worked from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at each location, guiding residents through complex legal processes that often emerge in disaster recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between client consultations, students worked on additional cases under the supervision of\u202fLegal Aid of North Carolina<\/a>\u202fattorneys, who helped identify community members with the greatest needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so humbling to talk with a person and address their legal concerns, especially as a student.\u201d said third-year law student Mandy Mericle, a Pro Bono Student Board member who coordinated the trip. \u201cThese experiences remind me of why I came to Carolina Law in the first place.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip also highlighted the critical shortage of legal services in rural areas.\u202fCole Voorhies<\/a>, director of public interest and government advising, who accompanied the group, noted this opportunity for students to experience rural practice firsthand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are simply not enough lawyers serving those areas of the state,\u201d said Voorhies. \u201cThis trip not only offered assistance to communities impacted by the storm, but also got students thinking about what it means to practice in an underserved rural area.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 25 years, Carolina Law\u2019s pro bono program has connected students with North Carolinians who cannot afford legal representation. This tradition of service has prepared generations of lawyers who understand their professional responsibility to give back to their communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWherever there is need, we definitely want to be helping to address those needs,\u201d Moran said, pledging the School\u2019s continued service to communities throughout North Carolina.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Find out more about the UNC School of Law pro bono program<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While most students headed to beaches for spring break, eight Carolina Law students traveled to storm-ravaged Western North Carolina to provide free legal aid to Hurricane Helene survivors navigating FEMA appeals and insurance disputes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2839,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2798"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2798"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2841,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2798\/revisions\/2841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.law.unc.edu\/september-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}