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Nominated by Susan Coppedge

"Racheal G. Henderson is a native of Waycross, Georgia. After receiving B.A. and B.S. degrees, she spent three years in Thailand as a Peace Corps volunteer before obtaining a J.D. from the University of Minnesota. Racheal has spent her entire career with Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP). As GLSP’s social security and veterans specialist attorney, she supports GLSP’s advocates in both substantive areas.

Racheal has extensive litigation experience and has successfully concluded a number of significant lawsuits as well as several notable Georgia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia cases. In 1999, she received the Dan Bradley Award from the State Bar of Georgia for her support of the Georgia SSI Kids Disability Pro Bono Project, GLSP’s first statewide pro bono project. Through the project, GLSP advocates and pro bono attorneys from Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough addressed the mass termination of children from SSI. Racheal’s expertise was invaluable as she developed materials and provided ongoing substantive support for pro bono volunteers.

A national thought and advocacy leader, Racheal often identifies novel issues in Social Security before others do. She identifies strategies for addressing these issues and shares with other advocates throughout the country. She works with national organizations, including Justice in Aging. In recent years, she has expanded GLSP’s work for veterans and works to provide access to legal services to veterans with low incomes who live in rural areas.

Racheal readily shares her expertise with others. She not only provides guidance to GLSP’s advocates, but also trains other legal services programs including at NLADA conferences. She regularly speaks at the annual State Bar of Georgia Social Security Trial Institute.

As an active member of GLSP’s Race Equity Team, Racheal shares her experiences as a lawyer who is a woman of color and advises staff on how to advocate for clients facing discrimination.

Racheal is very active in her community and Southeast Georgia. She frequently speaks to the community – both as a representative of GLSP and on her personal time – to educate Georgians about legal issues and how they can advocate for themselves. She works with the City of Waycross on its annual veterans’ program, securing services from GLSP and pro bono attorneys. Racheal also served for seven years as the summer academic institute coordinator for students in Ware County.

Racheal was a founder of the National Health Service Corps Site McKinney Medical Center (MMC) in Waycross, serving on its board for many years. Recently she was instrumental in securing funding for a medical-legal partnership between GLSP and MMC to place GLSP lawyers at McKinney Medical Center facilities to provide legal assistance to both McKinney patients and others in the community. Racheal is one of two staff attorneys providing on-site services at one MMC location, representing clients with a variety of public benefits cases such as non-disability Social Security and SSI benefits. A GLSP paralegal sees people at a second McKinney site, ensuring that GLSP has a consistent intake site in two rural counties."