After running her own law firm for 30 years, Elizabeth Hilbun wanted to find a way to help clients navigate the multitude of community resources for their legal, social, and medical needs.
Ten years ago, Hilbun helped found The Living Legacy Center, an organization that connects veterans, seniors, and individuals with disabilities and their families to legal and social services across the Greater Houston area.
“There's lots of great nonprofits in the Cypress area and in the Houston area, but people don’t always know how to access them,” said Hilbun, who serves as Executive Director and Chairman of the Center.
For each case, the Center walks alongside their clients by helping them find, assess, and utilize different resources in the community, such as Food Banks, lawyers, support groups, educational and health services, among others. They also teach them how to apply for various programs and services, such as benefits for housing, jobs, transportation, and more.
“We can connect them with those things, and then if they have a legal need, we have a list of lawyers that we pull from to help with that legal need,” Hilbun said. “And then, (we help them) know what information to bring the lawyer to get the need met.”
The Center supports and partners with a variety local nonprofits and businesses, including Cy-Fair Helping Hands, Cypress Assistance Ministries, Houston Stand Down, among others. They also run a local community garden, known as the Oasis Garden, that helps support their clients, volunteers, and local food banks.
For the Center’s population of clients – veterans, seniors, individuals with disabilities – Hilbun said their most pressing need is connection. She said the Center offers a program called Time Travelers, where they match clients with volunteers who can visit and socialize with them.
“Their primary diagnosis is loneliness,” Hilbun said. “Every client that we have connected with since we started this struggle with isolation, loneliness, lack of connection, lack of support systems, lack of purpose, lack of hope. That is what we see. That is what we're fighting.”
Hilbun said their overall goal is to “build a bridge, build a relationship, and build a community.” This encompasses the center’s mission to help the vulnerable populations of Cy-Fair find the right programs and resources for their unique situation.
The Center is mostly run by volunteers. Hilbun said they are always looking for retired social workers, case workers, nurses, or anyone who would be willing to volunteer their time to help work on a case. “We also look for people who might want to do visitation, and then we're also looking for people to work in our garden,” she said.
The Living Legacy Center recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. They will hold a special event and potluck on November 14 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Cypress VFW Post.