Page 18 - Delaware Lawyer - Spring 2023

FEATURE | A NEW WAY TO CONNECT
to utilize the site to seek out cases, but it is an option for those who want to use it. DVLS will continue to reach out to attorneys directly for assistance, and attorneys who do not want to use the website can always email Jacki Chacona at jchacona@dvls.org.
Our goal is to make the process to volunteer easy and straightforward by providing pro bono attorneys informa- tion on volunteer opportunities in whatever way works best for them. Whether or not a volunteer attorney plans to utilize the volunteer opportu- nity section of DVLS.org, we encour- age each volunteer to register on the site to access all our resources.
To gain access to the secure section of the website, volunteers just need to click on “advocate registration” and provide their contact information and indicate areas of interest. The request to join will come to a DVLS staff member to approve, and an email con- taining login credentials will be sent to the volunteer attorney. We hope to increase our number of volunteer attorneys and increase the number of cases taken by volunteers, because currently there are more requests for assistance than volunteers available to assist. We also anticipate an increase in requests for assistance from the new online intake portal on our website.
Helping the Public Find Help
The website is designed to pro- vide the public information about our agency and to simplify the pro- cess of accessing services from DVLS. The site provides information on the specific services that DVLS provides and the opportunity to begin the intake process for assistance with those services.
For years, DVLS has known that we are missing opportunities to help people in need of our services be- cause they could not reach us during the hours that we were open. People struggle to call our intake line during
DVLS STAFF MEMBERS ARE ALWAYS
WILLING TO HELP!
Janine Howard-O’Rangers, Executive Director of Delaware Volunteer Legal Services. Janine has been with DVLS for over 20 years and has served as the Executive Director for 19 years. jhoward@dvls.org
Tina Ventresca, Director, Finance & Administration has been with DVLS for 30 years. tventresca@dvls.org
Thomas McDonough is the Director of Pro Bono Recruitment.Tom has been with DVLS for 19 years. tmcdonough@dvls.org
Jacki Chacona is the Director of Pro Bono Projects. Jacki has been with DVLS for 23 years. jchacona@dvls.org
Tina Showalter and Angela Desmond are domestic violence attorneys.Tina and Angela have each been with DVLS for about three years. tshowalter@dvls. org adesmond@dvls.org
Melissa Hughes is the paralegal and has been with DVLS for over 15 years. mhughes@dvls.org
Gina Greim and Jennifer Castaneda are case managers and have each been with DVLS for over a year. ggreim@dvls.org, jcastaneda@dvls.org
WWW.DVLS.ORG
16 DELAWARE LAWYER SPRING 2023