Brookhavenites seeking information about civil legal matters need not look further than a free legal workshop being offered at the Jimmy Furlow Senior Center in Brookhaven.

The workshop, free and open to the public, will be offered at the Senior Center at 201 South First St. Tuesday, July 14, at 11 a.m. The educational workshop will focus on discussions around civil legal matters such as Social Security benefits, birth certificate issues, wills and trusts preparations. Presenters will also lead discussions about eligibility requirements for various benefit programs.

The workshop is offered through a partnership between the Mississippi Center for Legal Service Cooperation and AJFC Community Action Agency, Inc.

The program comes from MCLSC’s belief that it is important to let people in the Brookhaven area know there is help available. Their partnership with AJFC Community Action Agency, Inc. allows them to better promote awareness and inform the community.

Shirlon Kelly of AJFC Community Action Agency, Inc. said that the workshop is offered once a year to try and keep clients and citizens informed on what the organization does.

Executive Director of The Mississippi Center for Legal Services Corporation Sam Buchanan said the workshop was started through a grant from the Department of Human Services to conduct workshops like this one for the benefit of low-income people in the state.

“We encourage people to come out to not only get the opportunity to get in information but also to learn about our services and how to access those services,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan said that the information provided in the workshop seeks to better position attendees to avoid legal pitfalls. For example he said that many people assume based on the amount of property they own that they don’t need a last will and testament but the workshop will address why they need to have a will regardless of the amount of property they own or possess.

For more information about the workshop contact Tacarra Toles of the Mississippi Center for Legal Services at 601-545-2950 ext. 2614 or ttoles@mslegalservices.org. Interested people can also contact Shirlon Kelly of the AJFC Community Action Agency, Inc. at 601-833-6349.

The Mississippi Center for Legal Services Corporation’s mission is to serve eligible persons in Mississippi who cannot afford civil legal services by protecting their legal rights and providing competent legal representation in civil matters. They have an administrative office is located in Hattiesburg, a state initiatives office in Jackson, five service offices in Jackson, McComb, Hattiesburg, Meridian and Gulfport as well as satellite offices in Natchez, Vicksburg and Pascagoula.

The AJFC Community Action Agency, Inc. is a non-profit corporation based in Natchez that serves Adams, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence and Lincoln counties. With its mission, “to reduce the causes and conditions of poverty for individuals and families in the land of plenty,” the organization has operated more than 50 programs and administered more than $100 million in serving the clients of Southwest Mississippi.