Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diane Haar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Diane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I feel as though my whole life has prepared me to create Hawaii Disability Legal Services. I originally wanted to become an attorney because, in my heart, even as a small child, I wanted justice for people like my disabled sister. Others did not always know I was watching when I saw them bully or take advantage of her, and she could not defend herself.

There was no money for me for college and I had no safety net, so to get through school I worked in law firms, kept my grades up to maintain my academic scholarships and even worked at the security desk for my law school to make ends meet. It was really tight, and I ended up with more than $140,000 in student loans, but I made it.

In school, possibilities opened up to me that I never even knew existed, and after graduation I was working in the tiny country of Eritrea in war crimes litigation. This was a deviation from my original goal, although I remained passionate about justice for the disabled.

Life has a way of teaching you lessons, and mine came in the form of a major bicycling accident in Eritrea. My injuries wiped my memory of the entire month after the accident, and for a while after that I was still in an altered mental state. During that time, despite medical evacuation insurance, I was not evacuated, the US Embassy was kept from helping me, and I was given whatever care could be cobbled together in one of the poorest countries in the world. When it came time for me to leave, I was helped by an active-duty military member who was able to circumvent efforts to keep US Embassy personnel away from me.

I was fortunate I did not die, but it was a really long recovery and I have permanent disabilities. I learned a lot from that accident and my recovery about what happens to people when they become disabled, including the difficulty of trying to work and pay the bills while you are sick, the struggles getting and keeping medical insurance, the crushing burden of student loans when you have no paycheck, the very real discrimination against those who are disabled and, generally, the hardship of trying to keep a roof over your head during the most difficult time of your life. It made no difference that I had Ivy League degrees, which instead became a liability and source of massive debt rather than income.

My only dream during my recovery was to recover enough to continue to practice law and fulfill my childhood ambition. Today, I am so fortunate that what I have built at Hawaii Disability Legal Services far surpasses any of my dreams.

It is no accident I represent people with disabilities, that I help them get money to live on and medical insurance. It is also no accident that I go to homeless shelters to work with folks there. I understand why they are there.

It is also no accident I represent veterans. That active duty military member who helped me out of Eritrea? We recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. He is also the reason I practice in Hawaii and the Pacific Territories, because this is where his military job brought us. Through him, I have met countless other great men and women who became disabled because of their service and who are also trying to put their own lives back together.

Everyone who works with me shares my passion, for reasons of their own, to make a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

Life has a funny way of teaching you lessons. I have been doing ok for a long time now, so I have had plenty of people wonder why I work in the areas of law that I do and, particularly, why I am comfortable working with clients at the homeless shelter or on the street. Honestly, we are not different and circumstances beyond our control could cause any one of us to become homeless.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

At Hawaii Disability Legal Services, we primarily help folks with disabilities obtain Veterans, Social Security, and/or SSI Disability benefits. This gives them money to live on and access to medical insurance.

There are a lot of things that make my business unique.

One of those is that I have never shied away from in-person contact (except during the COVID pandemic). I have two offices in Hawaii, but travel to all of the inhabited islands (except Ni`ihau). I also travel to the Pacific Territories to see my clients and am in Saipan as I write this. People with disabilities are often marginalized and ignored. It is important to me that my clients know they are not just a paycheck to us, but another human being having a tough time who deserves to be recognized.

Admittedly, most lawyers try to do this work from the Mainland. They may rarely visit Hawaii and never go to the territories. I understand living and operating a business in Hawaii is expensive, but it makes a difference to actually be here in the middle of the Pacific. When I or my staff sits down and talks to clients, we can also share information about other resources and programs that can help them, often making a warm handoff to a friend or colleague who can assist them. This can make a difference in getting or keeping our clients housed, ensuring they have access to medical care, or whatever else they need that is, in no small part, critical to their quality of life and survival. In this vein, I even employ an outreach worker whose job it is to get out of the office and talk to folks where they are.

COVID forced me to take a multi-year hiatus from traveling to the territories, and I am just now getting back up to speed here. However, even two days ago I found myself helping a Vietnam Veteran enroll in a VA program he was unaware of and that will make a tremendous difference in his quality of life. There is just something about sitting around having a regular conversation with folks that makes things like this happen.

I am also really proud of the pro bono work we do. For example, I will periodically take on legal work for which I won’t be paid, but that needs to be done and there is no one else to do it. As a firm, we also get involved in the legislative process, both at the state and federal levels, to support legislation that helps our clients. Recently, I testified in front of the US Senate in favor of requiring the VA to pay doctors more quickly and adequately, which would help my clients by encouraging more doctors to accept VA insurance. One of my favorite pro bono projects is that we periodically have children make get-well cards for patients in our local hospitals. We even have a little corner dedicated to this in our Kona office.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

The reputation that Hawaii Disability Legal Services enjoys was built by word of mouth—in Hawaii, the Pacific Territories and now also the Philippines. It grew from the foundation I built. Specifically:

First, I do what I say I will do. If I tell a homeless shelter I will be there, I am there. If I set an appointment with a client, I keep it. If I tell someone I will do something, I do it.

Second, I strive to always give my best effort for my clients. It is important for me to remember that every client is a person with their own story. They are never just a number to me.

From this foundation, I have enjoyed a lot of success in the form of many victories for my clients, and from these victories the “coconut wireless” built my practice. I am particularly touched when I tell folks on Facebook I’m coming out to the territories and my past clients jump in the comments to let others know how much I helped them.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I am always surprised by the myths about disability benefits and the people who apply for them. I thought everyone understood why disability benefits can be essential to my clients’ survival and how little money my clients actually get.

I am still shocked that some people do not understand some folks in this country do not have access to medical insurance. It is not that they are choosing not to pay for it. They might even have a full-time job, but they don’t have the money to pay for it and they do not have access to any other options.

Honestly, this was me after my accident. My employer did not provide medical insurance, so I had international medical insurance I was paying for that only allowed me three months coverage in the US, and it was terrible coverage. It specifically excluded a lot of the care I needed. When it ran out, I could not get covered in the state where I lived. My money went to my student loans and living expenses. In fact, I had no regular medical insurance that would cover all of my conditions until I married my husband two years after my accident.

The medical insurance alone that my clients get is life changing. They can go anywhere in the US and receive medical care. That is nothing short of amazing when you have been forced by the circumstances of your disability to go without.

Added to this, some folks seem to think that disability benefits mean my clients will be living really well—I cannot believe the “welfare queen” idea is still around! This year, a person can get a maximum of $914 a month in SSI Disability, but if they have money coming in from any other source, or if they get free resources, such as a room in Mom and Dad’s house, they receive less than this. If they are on Social Security Disability, the average payment is $1,358 per month. The average VA Disability rating is at 10% or only $165.92 per month. Nobody is going to get rich on this anywhere in the US, but particularly nobody is living well on this in the islands where we pay more because all of our goods, food included, have to be shipped in. Hawaii has the highest cost of living of any state, but prices are shocking at grocery stores in the territories, too. While some argue my clients should move away if they make so little, I don’t know if they realize how many Hawaiians, Chamorros, Samoans and other locals I represent. This is their home.

Finally, I am also surprised that I am still fighting against this notion that my clients are lazy and just do not want to work. Most of my clients would give anything to have their full earning power back. Living on benefits means a much lower quality of life than they used to have. If this were not enough, my clients’ disabilities make them more likely to die, by their own hand or otherwise. These disability cases can take years. I have even appealed cases all the way through federal court more than once, only to have my clients die before they could ever receive benefits.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hawaiidisabilitylegal.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hawaiidisability
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiDisabilityLegalServices
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hawaii-disability-legal-services-honolulu

Image Credits
Diane C. Haar