Once a homeless teen herself, lawyer now offers pro bono advice to others
On the run at age 13 and homeless for three years after that, Nicole Lowe must have seemed an unlikely legal eagle to those who knew her at the time.
But the onetime vagabond long ago turned her life around and is now both an attorney and the mother of two teens, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
Employed as a lawyer in the state attorney general’s office, Lowe provides her services on a pro bono basis twice a week at the Volunteers of America Homeless Youth Resource Center in Salt Lake City. Her clients are homeless teens, and their legal issues can include charges ranging from nuisance offenses to serious crimes or a need for legal emancipation that would allow them to enter into contracts on their own for housing and employment.
However, what Lowe offers them goes beyond legal advice, Kathy Bray, who serves as president and chief executive of the VOA’s operations in Utah, tells the newspaper.
“A lot of it is providing guidance. We want our youth to receive guidance that will allow them to live in the community as law-abiding citizens,” Bray said. “If they have trouble, she can talk them through it.”
