Towne Salute Meet

TOWNE SALUTE

Waleska Casiano Matos

Center of Help (Centro de Ayuda)

By Tom Worgo

If immigration lawyer Waleska Casiano Matos wanted to air an advertisement for her services on TV, she could scroll the following words across the screen: honesty, integrity, compassion, and friend. That would tell her story. She’s a straight shooter and, as a volunteer lawyer and counselor at the Center of Help, she treats her clients like family.

The center educates and connects immigrants in Anne Arundel County with resources to guide them toward self-sufficiency and successful integration into the community. That includes navigating the lengthy path to U.S. citizenship. Officials at the center instantly took a liking to Casiano Matos, a Crofton resident and native of Puerto Rico. When she started volunteering nearly seven years ago, they immediately put her on the board.

“She is amazing,” says Tatiana Klein, vice president of the center’s board. “She is very honest and clear. She knows if somebody has a chance. We can trust her that she is not going to actually charge someone, knowing we have had other lawyers say yes to a case and take the money, but the person doesn’t really have a case.”

Often, Casiano Matos, 49, ends up helping her clients with more than just their legal problems. That’s just the way she is. If there are other ways she can help, she will. “Some people are just afraid of lawyers and I just try to be human and make them feel comfortable,” she says. “And that’s where I get a lot of satisfaction. They know they have somewhere to go and they find me helping them with more than just the legal part.”

If individuals who come to the center have medical issues, need to see a therapist, or need help with housing, Casiano Matos steps in. She takes the time to sit down and talk with them, and she’ll often refer them to another nonprofit for further assistance, as needed. She likes to believe it was fate that brought her to the Center of Help. Right away, she decided to dedicate herself to its mission.

Casiano Matos, who has her own legal practice in Annapolis, initiated a once-a-month workshop to help immigrants with myriad challenges of adjustment. “From day one, she has been very into the community with what they need,” Center of Help board member Roxana Rodriguez says. “When I worked for the City as a Hispanic liaison, there was a lot going on with immigration. I asked her, ‘Could you do a workshop?’ She immediately agreed. She is very important to the community and makes a real difference.”

Casiano Matos thoroughly enjoys these legal clinics and the impact they’ve had. People make a donation to the center in order to see her. Over the years, she’s taken on several cases pro bono. “I spend the entire day with people,” she says. “They make appointments, I meet them and screen their cases. I may refer them somewhere else. We do it from 9 a.m. to whenever we’re finished.”

Some of the cases she does take on, end up becoming a personal mission. Especially those who have experienced trauma or have fled from threats and abuse in their home countries in Central America and Mexico. She recounts the traumatic background of one of her clients, whom she met at the center four years ago. So far, she’s spent more than 400 hours on his case.

“I have been helping him ever since,” she says. “He was a boy who had been severely abused and almost killed back in El Salvador. He has gone through therapy. I am human, and I want to see him happy.”

Four years later, the boy, now a 21-year-old Annapolis resident, is a success story. “He’s been granted asylum. He’s finishing high school, has a job, and is in the process of becoming a legal citizen,” she says. “He’s beginning to enjoy life, which is hard sometimes when you’ve gone through what he has.”

Casiano Matos got her start in law back in her home country. For 11 years, she worked as an attorney for the Puerto Rican government. Her career there culminated with three years as the executive director of The Puerto Rico Pre-Trial Services Office. She also worked for the

department of corrections, serving as director and general counsel of their legal office.

Volunteerism has always been an essential part of her life. She recalls that her mother first got her involved, working for nonprofits dedicated to children and the elderly. Her favorite was Hogares Rafaela Ybarra, a home for abused and neglected girls in San Juan. Her most interesting story of all came from the experience of volunteering there for four years.

“I did what they called the Godmother Program,” she recalls. “I’d usually take the girls out for breakfast or to play. That’s where I found my daughter Angelica, who is now 21. I adopted her from that home.”

Do you have a volunteer to nominate? Send What's Up? an email to editor@ whatsupmag.com.