When Janice Murphy* became pregnant in high school, she dropped out of school to care for her baby. Without stable employment or child support, Ms. Murphy struggled to put food on the table. As her family grew, Ms. Murphy became desperate and committed a crime to pay for food to feed her children.

For many Americans living in poverty like Ms. Murphy, one crisis can set off a compounding ripple effect of stress. Ms. Murphy’s criminal record further prevented her from finding a good job. Even after Ms. Murphy completed a program to earn a high school diploma, her criminal record prevented her from advancing at her job. With the help of legal aid, Ms. Murphy sealed her criminal record, freeing her to earn the promotion she deserved.

In 2009, the U.S. Congress named January National Poverty Awareness Month to bring attention to solutions to end poverty. The Foundation is pleased to join Ohio’s legal aids and legal aid funders, led by the Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation, to highlight on social media how access to civil legal services is imperative to advancing this goal.

In 2023, Ohio’s legal aids helped more than 148,000 low-income Ohioans with civil legal challenges. Legal aid helps prevent problems from spiraling into more significant issues by ensuring people can access professional advice, information, and representation to resolve civil legal issues to live safer, more stable, and financially secure lives.

“Most low-income households experience at least one civil legal problem,” said Foundation Executive Director Angie Lloyd. “Legal aid is a crucial tool for ensuring safe housing, protecting children and adult survivors of violence, securing essential earned benefits, and reducing poverty.”

This January, let’s remember that equal participation in our civil legal system is essential to eliminating poverty. As the activist, lawyer, and author Bryan Stevenson observed, “The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice.”

*Name has been changed to protect client privacy

Join the Foundation and use the hashtags #OppositeOfPoverty and #povertyawarenessmonth to participate in National Poverty Awareness Month.