Jay Speer Receives Virginia Elder Rights Award

VERC Press Release

On Monday April 27, with over 200 conference attendees applauding, the Virginia Elder Rights Coalition presented its 2009 Award to Jay Speer, Executive Director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, who has advocated for the rights of low-income people for over 20 years.

Jay has worked tirelessly to end or at least erode the dangerous practices of payday lending and car title lending in the Commonwealth. He has counseled individual clients, offered technical assistance and training to legal aid attorneys and other advocates, and sought legislative solutions through the General Assembly. Jay was instrumental in developing the Virginia Partnership to Encourage Responsible Lending (VaPERL) and in recruiting diverse groups to join this collaborative effort to support fair lending practices in Virginia.

Before coming to the Virginia Poverty Law Center, Jay worked as a staff attorney at Central Virginia Legal Aid for 13 years, where he served elderly clients and established an innovative pro bono hotline. He was a charter member of the Virginia Elder Rights Coalition, playing a key role in development of its bylaws, mission and listserv.

Senator Donald McEachin has commented that Jay "has taught and demonstrated to General Assembly members to continually remember our responsibility to those left behind . . . ." An elder rights advocate remarked that "he doesn't give up and if he gets discouraged, it doesn't slow him down. I see his work as creating ripples that . . . make differences large and small in the lives of those in need."

The Virginia Elder Rights Coalition (VERC) has presented an award each year since 2000, given at the annual Joint Virginia Guardianship Association and Virginia Elder Rights Coalition Conference. Past awardees include Thelma Bland Watson, Sen. Joseph Gartlan, journalist Betty Booker, Del. Karen Darner, Secretary Jane Woods, attorneys Harriette Shivers and John Molumphy, paralegal Anne See, and the Virginia Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program.