UMMC, Miss. Center for Justice partnership to aid people with AIDS

The Republic

JACKSON, Mississippi — The Mississippi Center for Justice and the University of Mississippi Medical Center are partnering to provide free civil legal services to people living with AIDS.

The collaboration includes the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Crossroads Clinics Central and the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation.

Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit public interest law firm, says in a news release that it will provide on-site legal assistance at the Crossroads Clinics Central for people living with AIDS. The legal assistance will focus on AIDS-status-related discrimination in housing and employment.

UMMC officials say that is important because it addresses one of the last barriers to making sure people with AIDS can reintegrate into society in a productive manner.

Officials say there are 97 medical-legal partnerships in the country serving 54,000 patients a year.