By Shevaun Brannigan and Maggie Oberkiercher
This is the first of a series of "pro bono success stories" which highlight the essential needs of pro bono clients and the transformative impact of work by our public interest law centers and dedicated legal volunteers. Look for more "success stories" in the coming months.
Since its founding in 1990 by the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Homeless Advocacy Project has offered free legal services to more than 65,000 people experiencing, or at imminent risk of, homelessness. Many of the individual cases are taken on by HAP’s large corps of volunteers, numbering more than 400 legal professionals in 2025. HAP’s legal work can range from procuring incredible back sums of SSI/SSDI, in some cases amounting to more than $20,000, to obtaining a simple piece of paper that can change a life—a birth certificate.
Robert (last name withheld) first became familiar with HAP through its clinic model, specifically a general legal services clinic held at Broad Street Love (BSL). a long-time partner of HAP, that provides stabilizing social services to individuals experiencing deep poverty. At that time, he had been living in a halfway house for longer than he cared to say. When Robert did finally get a lead on an apartment, he had been meticulously saving and had raised enough for first and last month’s rent—however, without a regular job, the security deposit escaped him.
Lawyers are well suited to help because they are among the few categories of individuals who can request vital identity documents for another person. Yet, to a HAP client, a person struggling with their housing, often times struggling with mental health and/or physical disabilities and with possible substance abuse disorders, this can seem to be an insurmountable climb. Without any source of regular income, and often times distanced from their family members, the complicated logistical steps and sometimes prohibitive fees make the task of obtaining a birth certificate impossible to tackle without help.
Obtaining a birth certificate can mean the world for the person who receives it. Nearly 70% of HAP’s clients in 2024 needed identity documents or needed amendments for accuracy, including gender identity. In the shifting legal landscape, paperwork supporting one’s identity is becoming more and more vital, and so HAP anticipates the percentage of clients in need of these documents increasing in 2025. Anecdotally, client phone calls have become more frequent, and the desperate individuals are more distressed and scared, according to staff who answers the phone, including Margianne Smith, Office Administrator and HAP employee of 25 years.
All that stood between Robert and the stability of his own place was regular employment. Finding a job can pose challenges for anyone who has had a period without a steady income, but Robert’s situation was unusually complex. He had lost his birth certificate during the course of a tumultuous life. Without his birth certificate, he could not get a job. Without a job and that first paycheck, he couldn’t come up with a security deposit. Robert felt hopeless in the halfway house until he met HAP’s legal staff and volunteers, including volunteer Donna Siegal Moffa, and learned there was hope for obtaining his out-of-state birth certificate.
Donna serves as Counsel at Kessler Topaz Meltzer Check, LLP. She has been with the firm since March 2008 and practices in the Consumer Department, litigating class actions on behalf of those who have been taken advantage of by big businesses, banks, pharmaceutical companies and manufacturers. She finds it satisfying to advance laws intended to protect the public from fraud and unlawful conduct, remediating wrongs for large groups of people. Her practice also enables her to promote the policies underlying statutes adopted to shield consumers and others from abusive commercial practices.
Donna started volunteering at HAP legal clinics in October 2024 after being engaged by HAP board member, Josh Materese. Volunteering with HAP has only increased Donna’s commitment to providing meaningful direct assistance. Her HAP casework has highlighted how the maze of requirements and processes for obtaining essential documentation such as birth certificates and immigration documents can present insurmountable burdens on vulnerable people. Donna has now attended several of HAP’s legal clinics at BSL and enjoys meeting and assisting HAP clients—interesting people with a variety of life stories who are often just trying to get back on their feet and move toward economic stability.
Donna says, “I strongly believe that those of us, like me, who are fortunate enough to be free from hunger, safe from the elements and secure that we have the resources and knowledge to take care of ourselves, have an obligation to those less fortunate. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve at HAP clinics. Being able to provide legal and logistical assistance to help individuals move past those burdens makes a real difference to the people HAP serves and feels tangibly productive.”
After meeting Robert at one such BSL clinic, Donna got started on Robert’s birth certificate request as though it were any other case—paid or pro bono. The birth certificate was issued and mailed to HAP, but construction in HAP’s offices at the time complicated its delivery. Robert called HAP’s offices daily while he waited, and frequently checked in with Donna as well. As Robert sees it, Donna’s willingness to answer a phone call was an enormous kindness. Especially when she was home sick and lost her voice, but still let him know she would track the important envelope with FedEx. When Robert finally got his birth certificate, he was elated. Donna had made his employment possible—with a piece of paper and the gift of her time and efforts.
Margianne Smith had the privilege of handing Robert his long-awaited birth certificate when it finally arrived. She said, “he was forever grateful how we helped him.” [She is pictured with the FedEx delivery driver, Justin, in the enclosed photo with the actual delivery of Robert’s birth certificate. Justin was excited too when he learned what the envelope contained—he loves making deliveries to HAP’s office because he knows the envelopes he carries will change lives.]
HAP Pro Bono Coordinator Maggie Oberkircher says, “Donna has been incredibly impressive in just a few months as a HAP volunteer. She has served at least ten pro bono clients. She’s kind and patient with her clients and amazed at navigating all of the complicating factors that arise while trying to obtain vital documents and other records. We’re so thrilled that she keeps coming back to help!”
When asked about his experiencing working with Donna, Robert had the following to say. “Donna is a woman who keeps her word. She said she would do something and did it. I appreciated it so much.” When we interviewed Robert on the phone, he had just gotten off of work. His voice was tired—but held relief. His life was beginning again.
Shevaun Brannigan is HAP’s Director of Development and Communication. Maggie Oberkircher, Esq., has served as HAP Pro Bono Coordinator for three years and works with HAP’s incredible corps of pro bono volunteers. Joseph Sullivan Esq, formerly of counsel and Director of Pro Bono Programs of the Troutman Pepper law firm is the creator and editor of this series.
