Protecting Family, Honoring Culture
Depending on where you live in San Mateo County, your experience navigating courts, schools, and public systems can feel completely different. For families facing legal challenges, especially those without financial means or familiarity with the system, that difference can be overwhelming. For Dora and her grandson Jeremiah, it nearly stood in the way of keeping their family together.
Dora, is an Ojibwe woman from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians in Minnesota. Family and culture are central to her life, shaped by generations before her including her mother, whose strength Dora proudly carries forward. When Jeremiah, Dora’s grandson, lost both of his parents, Dora knew he needed stability, safety, and love. She stepped in to care for him and sought legal guardianship so she could protect him fully. “I told the investigator, ‘That little boy stays with me.’” Dora said.
What Dora didn’t know was how complex her case would become. Jeremiah’s Native American ancestry meant federal and tribal laws had to be considered. The Ojibwe tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) both needed to be notified to ensure the guardianship honored Jeremiah’s rights and heritage. Dora didn’t know how to navigate these requirements, but her Legal Aid attorney did.
Dora was connected with Assad, a pro bono attorney who has been volunteering with the organization since his first year of practice. Assad understood that this case wasn’t just paperwork—it was about a child, a family, and their cultural identity. “We had to make sure the right person was being appointed as guardian,” Assad explained. “The case is about filing a petition and preparing something. But the engagement, the matter, that's about people.”
Assad guided Dora through every step of the process, ensuring that all legal obligations were met and that Dora’s role as Jeremiah’s caregiver was clearly recognized. With Legal Aid’s support, Dora was no longer navigating the system alone. “The best thing Legal Aid did for me was to give me such a fantastic lawyer,” Dora says.
In July 2025, Dora and Assad stood together in court in Redwood City. The judge approved Dora as Jeremiah’s legal custodian. “I was thrilled,” Dora recalls.
Today, Jeremiah is safe, supported, and growing up surrounded by family and culture. Dora takes pride in teaching him their Ojibwe language and traditions—ensuring that he stays connected to who he is and where he comes from. For Assad, cases like Dora and Jeremiah’s are why he continues to volunteer.
“Legal Aid taught me to really see people, not just categories,” he says. “To understand what they’re struggling with and meet them where they are.” Because Legal Aid is not limited by federal funding restrictions, it can step in where others cannot, serving as the first and sometimes only line of defense for families in San Mateo County.
Without this support, many people would face discrimination alone, lose access to benefits they’re entitled to, or be unable to navigate complex legal systems at all. Dora and Jeremiah’s story is one example of how Legal Aid SMC brings together dedicated clients and committed pro bono attorneys to protect families, honor culture, and pursue justice.
“I want to live in a county where we think broadly about how to affect systemic change,” Assad said. Through stories like Dora and Jeremiah’s, that change is already happening—one family at a time.