But when she called an attorney's office to see about gaining temporary custody, Perales was told the legal fees started at $2,000. That was a lot of money for a single woman who cleans homes for a living.

"I knew I had to do something or the kids would go to the state," said Perales, who lives in Watauga. "I wanted to keep them together."

So Perales started calling not-for-profit agencies for help. Eventually, she found the Lena Pope Home, which provides counseling and other services to families. The agency told her about a special law clinic for people in situations just like hers.

The clinic, offered by the Texas Wesleyan University law school, provides free or reduced-cost legal assistance to poor Tarrant County families seeking child support, adoptions, custody, guardianship or other legal services. It's run by law students who are licensed to practice with a supervisor present and by other volunteers.

The clinic is one of numerous programs aimed at helping abused or neglected children that is funded by the United Way of Tarrant County. It has received about $375,000 from United Way over the past three years, officials said.

Perales was able to keep the children out of foster care and within eight months of contacting the clinic, got legal guardianship of her grandchildren, ages 6 to 16, at no cost. She said she has no trouble now checking the children out of school or taking them to the doctor, things that were difficult to do without her guardianship papers.

"I am so grateful for the United Way and the clinic," Perales said. "I call them my angels."

The clinic has helped hundreds of families, including Saul and Margie Arredondo of Fort Worth. The Arredondos rely on $1,900 a month in public assistance for food, housing and living expenses. The couple received free help from the clinic to get custody of their five grandchildren, ages 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10.

The Arredondos are like many families assisted by the clinic. Their son, who is the children's father, is in prison. The children's mother, who has other children, does not want custody and is not paying child support, the Arredondos said.

Thelma Pace of Springtown has a similar story. The single woman now has custody of her three granddaughters, whose father is in jail. Pace, 70, said she tried for seven years to get custody but never had enough money to pay an attorney. She is a substitute teacher. The law clinic helped her get custody within six months for free.

Pace said she will never forget the day she officially adopted the girls, 10-year-old twins and an 11-year-old. She said her new family had a photograph taken at the courthouse and asked the student attorneys who worked on her case to be in the photo.

"We were so excited. I would never ever believe it could have gone so fast," Pace said. "If you want something done, call Texas Wesleyan."

How to help

The United Way of Tarrant County is trying to raise $24 million to fund nonprofit social-service agencies. The organization kicked off its annual fundraising campaign Sept. 7.

To donate, mail a check to United Way of Tarrant County, 210 E. Ninth St., Fort Worth, TX 76102 or go to

www.unitedwaytarrant.org.

Law clinic

The Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth offers a law clinic for free or lowered costs to income-eligible Tarrant County families. Families must be screened and referred to the law clinic by the Lena Pope Home, a nonprofit agency that provides counseling and other services for families. For more information, call the law clinic at 817-212-4123 or visit www.law.txwes.edu.

SUSAN SCHROCK, 817-548-5475
sschrock@star-telegram.com

http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/328732.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor