A Jacksonville native, Stephen Pitel went to law school in Vermont knowing he wanted to practice public interest law, so when he found an opportunity to work at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in 2015, he took it.
“I couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough,” Stephen said.
After serving as director of JALA’s Fair Housing Unit, Stephen became director of the Northeast Florida Medical-Legal Partnership (NFMLP) in 2019.
“In that role, I assist pediatric patients and their families with issues related to the social determinants of health, as well as being a resource for our medical partners,” Stephen said.
JALA’s medical partners in the NFMLP are Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, UF Health Specialty Pediatrics Clinics, and Community PedsCare®, all of whom refer pediatric patients to JALA when they or their families have civil legal problems that are harming the child’s health and well-being. The NFMLP can help with a wide array of issues, from housing to Medicaid benefits to family law.
“Helping lessen the burden, even by just a little, on these families is incredibly gratifying,” Stephen said. “The clients that are referred to the NFMLP tend to have enormous burdens and stresses, and we get to help reduce those burdens and improve their health and lives.”
The COVID-19 pandemic presented special challenges for the NFMLP, not the least of which was the loss of in-person contact with clients and health-care providers, but Stephen and his fellow JALA attorneys continued to serve pediatric patients throughout the pandemic remotely, and they even made some enhancements to the program.
“During the pandemic we have improved our referral system and worked with our partners on new ways to identify and respond to potential issues with social determinants of health,” Stephen said.
Another thing the pandemic could not stop is Freed-to-Run, a multi-marathon fundraiser started by Gunster shareholder Mike Freed that is funding an endowment for the future operation of the NFMLP. The fourth annual Freed to Run was held in November 2020, and the fifth will take place in October 2021. So far, Freed to Run has raised nearly $1.5 million for the NFMLP with a great deal of help from Baptist Health, which is matching all donations at 125%.
