Calvin Larson
Best of Reston Award
In 1998, I was one of several honorees in the Best of Reston Awards program conducted by Reston Interfaith, a
multi-church-sponsored non-profit organization that operates a homeless shelter, daycare center, food pantry and
other services for the poor.
Says Reston Interfaith on its Web site: “The Best of Reston event honors individuals, organizations and
businesses that have put forth tremendous effort in their commitment to community service and improving the lives of
others;” (for some of us, we admit, a slight exaggeration.)
The 2009 Best of Reston event, co-sponsored by the Reston Chamber of Commerce, collected more than a
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) for Reston Interfaith projects.
In 1998, I was one of several honorees in the Best of Reston Awards program conducted by Reston Interfaith, a
multi-church-sponsored non-profit organization that operates a homeless shelter, daycare center, food pantry and
other services for the poor.
Says Reston Interfaith on its Web site: “The Best of Reston event honors individuals, organizations and
businesses that have put forth tremendous effort in their commitment to community service and improving the lives of
others;” (for some of us, we admit, a slight exaggeration.)
The 2009 Best of Reston event, co-sponsored by the Reston Chamber of Commerce, collected more than a
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00) for Reston Interfaith projects.
Whitman-Walker Clinic Award-
In 2002 I was named the Virginia legal services volunteer of the year by the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a
Washington D.C. gay men’s health clinic that has expanded into legal and other services, not just for men and not
just for gays. I, and several other volunteer attorneys, had been handling, on a pro bono (no fee) basis, client legal
needs since the 1980’s beginning of the AIDS crisis.
For some clients I did estate planning (wills, advance medical directives and general powers of attorney). Others
I put into bankruptcy or sent out “judgment proof” letters to creditors. Some clients needed help in a discrimination
(EEOC) matter, or COBRA coverage, or a viatical settlement, or pre-existing condition on medical insurance, or
obtaining a green card and work permit from Immigration Services.
Over several years I provided legal services to 100 or more clients assigned to me by the Whitman-Walker
Clinic. Obviously, I and the other volunteers could not be experts in all those legal subjects, but our clients were
seriously ill people who had nowhere else to turn. Whatever the legal need, we usually got the job done.
For one high-income AIDS client, I prepared a personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, something normally used
only for businesses.
All of my early Whitman-Walker clients are now long deceased, but the later ones, benefited by the so-called
“cocktail” combination of medical prescriptions, are still going strong.
In 2002 I was named the Virginia legal services volunteer of the year by the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a
Washington D.C. gay men’s health clinic that has expanded into legal and other services, not just for men and not
just for gays. I, and several other volunteer attorneys, had been handling, on a pro bono (no fee) basis, client legal
needs since the 1980’s beginning of the AIDS crisis.
For some clients I did estate planning (wills, advance medical directives and general powers of attorney). Others
I put into bankruptcy or sent out “judgment proof” letters to creditors. Some clients needed help in a discrimination
(EEOC) matter, or COBRA coverage, or a viatical settlement, or pre-existing condition on medical insurance, or
obtaining a green card and work permit from Immigration Services.
Over several years I provided legal services to 100 or more clients assigned to me by the Whitman-Walker
Clinic. Obviously, I and the other volunteers could not be experts in all those legal subjects, but our clients were
seriously ill people who had nowhere else to turn. Whatever the legal need, we usually got the job done.
For one high-income AIDS client, I prepared a personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, something normally used
only for businesses.
All of my early Whitman-Walker clients are now long deceased, but the later ones, benefited by the so-called
“cocktail” combination of medical prescriptions, are still going strong.
Fairfax Bar Association Award-
The Fairfax Bar Association awarded me its 2002 Public Service Award, partly for legal services to AIDS
clients but mainly for my conducting, on repeated occasions, the Association’s homeless shelter and landlord-
tenant legal clinics.
At the homeless shelter, on Route 1 south of Alexandria, I listened to legal problems unlike those in my regular
practice, the most memorable question being “Am I married?” from a wife who wanted to get married again.
It turned out that she had been separated from her husband, who was a native of Norway and, as I later
learned, had returned to his home country. I was able to contact him by calling the Norwegian embassy, which,
however, warned that the husband’s name was the equivalent of “John Smith” in the U.S. Dozens of Norwegians
had the same name. But the husband’s father’s name, obtained from the marriage license, was unique and got me
a phone number to the husband.
He had, he said, lost contact with his wife and had obtained a Florida divorce before returning to Norway. The
divorce decree, obtained from the court, was what my client wanted by coming to the legal clinic.
The Fairfax Bar Association awarded me its 2002 Public Service Award, partly for legal services to AIDS
clients but mainly for my conducting, on repeated occasions, the Association’s homeless shelter and landlord-
tenant legal clinics.
At the homeless shelter, on Route 1 south of Alexandria, I listened to legal problems unlike those in my regular
practice, the most memorable question being “Am I married?” from a wife who wanted to get married again.
It turned out that she had been separated from her husband, who was a native of Norway and, as I later
learned, had returned to his home country. I was able to contact him by calling the Norwegian embassy, which,
however, warned that the husband’s name was the equivalent of “John Smith” in the U.S. Dozens of Norwegians
had the same name. But the husband’s father’s name, obtained from the marriage license, was unique and got me
a phone number to the husband.
He had, he said, lost contact with his wife and had obtained a Florida divorce before returning to Norway. The
divorce decree, obtained from the court, was what my client wanted by coming to the legal clinic.