Life can be filled with despair and torment, not knowing what the day may bring. Just ask Joanna Blicharz. A victim of domestic violence, she was new to this country and didn’t know what help was available. Joanna had been in a women’s shelter for five months when a friend put her in touch with the Delran police. After she explained her situation to them, the matter was turned over to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s office, to pursue weapons and domestic violence charges against her husband.

Joanna Blicharz (with her children, Peter and Magan) turned to LSNJ's Domestic Violence Representation Project for help.

Joanna also turned to Legal Services for help. LSNJ’s Domestic Violence Representation Project (DVRP) told her how to get a restraining order and where to go to file. She was able to obtain the temporary restraining order (TRO) on her own, but needed legal representation at her final restraining order (FRO) hearing. Joan Switzer—a patent attorney for Merck—was assigned to Joanna’s case. With Joan’s help and the services of a volunteer Polish interpreter, the FRO was granted, Joanna’s husband was ordered to pay child support, and she received assistance with her household bills and medical needs. Ms. Switzer is still on the case, representing Joanna in her divorce action.

“I owe Joan my life . . . ”

Grateful for the assistance she received, Joanna says, “I owe Joan my life. She was extremely compassionate and knew exactly what needed to be done. Whenever I called, she responded immediately and was very thorough.”

Joanna is afraid to think of what would have happened if she didn’t have the help of a lawyer, which she didn’t seek at first because she thought no one cared. “I still think about all these strangers that I never met, helping me.” Fearing for her life, she didn’t know what would happen to her children. “When I did get help, it was like opening the gates to paradise. I cried every time someone did something for me.”

Joanna was shocked by how much people cared, especially since her husband had repeatedly told her that no one would help. Because she reached out for help and got so many people involved, it made it harder for him to do something to her or persist in his threats to kill her.

Having been rescued from her own dire circumstances, Joanna is also mindful of others in similar situations. “Please remember that everyone doesn’t have the money to afford an attorney. There are a lot of good people in bad situations—people who need help and will not abuse the services provided.”

Through the efforts of the DVRP and her pro bono attorney, Joanna Blicharz gained not only a new sense of freedom and independence, but also the strength to act on her own. No longer a prisoner in her own home, she feels safe. “Just knowing there is an open-door policy and that I can get assistance for any future problems has made me feel very grateful and very secure.” She can now “listen to the quiet” in her life and take pleasure in just how beautiful it is.

Montressa Smith—Former Paralegal
Legal Services of New Jersey

This article appeared in the Fall 2007 edition of For the Public Good.