A spotlight on one of the professional team members who works for you at Nash Disability Law.
For Nash Disability Law Intake Screener Jon Recinos, the cause of justice and dignity for those with disabilities is very near and dear to his heart.
“My mother, for a portion of her life relied on the safety net of Supplemental Security Income,” he relates. “And I have two siblings with autism, so I have seen firsthand many of the difficulties people with disabilities face.”
“The complex and winding process of getting disability benefits deters many people from successfully pursuing what they rightfully deserve, often what they’ve spent their whole lives working for. We are all one misfortune away from a life-changing condition, and I think accessibility to this safety net is crucial to our society.”
“Given my own experience with mental health conditions, I am able to empathize with and reassure the people that we are helping. I find it very gratifying to hear the relief in someone’s voice when after being denied and turned away repeatedly, they realize they are finally speaking to someone at an organization that is willing to hear them out and lend them a hand.”
In his role as an intake screener for our disability lawyers, Jon is on the front line of helping Chicagoans with disabilities.
He explains, “I am responsible for inquiries and consultations with new prospective clients. When people we are not yet representing call in, they will speak to me or one of several other people. I write notes on our conversations and work closely with the disability attorneys to determine if we can take someone’s case.”
Born and raised in Chicago, Mr. Recinos has lived his whole life here.
“I am Puerto Rican and feel my heritage and upbringing inform a lot of my worldview,” he says proudly. “In my free time I like to listen to music and ride my bike. I am also interested in the law, so I like to read and watch TV shows about true crime or interesting civil court cases.”
Another of Jon’s interests is writing fiction, and that is why he says he is passionate about literature, philosophy, human rights and the English language. He says with a sly grin, “I can be very opinionated about how things should be phrased, or which literary conventions or figures of speech are growing tired.”
When asked if he has a favorite quote that helps explain what he believes in, Jon turns to the English author and philosopher Aldous Huxley: “One third, more or less, of all the sorrow that [people] must endure is unavoidable. It is the sorrow inherent in the human condition, the price we must pay for being sentient and self-conscious organisms…The remaining two thirds of all sorrow is homemade and, so far as the universe is concerned, unnecessary.”