BAY AREA LEGAL AID
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Geographic areas served: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties
Mission:
BayLegal is committed to providing equal access to the justice system and free, high quality legal assistance regardless of a client’s location, language or disability. Access to quality legal assistance and advocacy is crucial for these individuals to understand and assert their rights to create stability for themselves and their families. Without free civil legal services such as BayLegal’s, these members of our community have no recourse when their basic rights are violated or not being exercised.
Over 1.2 million residents* of the San Francisco Bay Area are living in poverty, and all of them are at risk for a number of destabilizing factors that plague the working poor. These individuals and families are at high risk for lack of sufficient resources to meet basic needs like food, clothing and utilities; unfair treatment and discrimination by landlords; and lack of access to health care. For this vulnerable population, an unwarranted eviction notice, the presence of domestic violence, wrongful termination of healthcare benefits or difficulty in overcoming barriers to employment can have devastating results. Families may lose or be denied housing, employment or vital medical treatment. In the long run, the constant stress caused by these types of chronic problems can lead to family dysfunction and breakdown.
There are often simple legal solutions to these kinds of problems, allowing these vulnerable residents to begin to move out of these desperate conditions. However, the many burdens of a life of poverty make it extremely difficult, if not impossible in some instances, for a family to focus on a potential legal problem in order to see if it can be resolved. In many cases, low-income families are not even aware of their legal rights. Recent studies demonstrate the difficulty low-income residents face when trying to access legal assistance - a 2002 report by the California Commission on Access to Justice stated that 72% of all low-income Californians do not have access to a lawyer when facing a serious legal issue; and on average low-income households experience at least one civil legal need per year (Legal Services Corporation).
*Residents living at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.
Over 1.2 million residents* of the San Francisco Bay Area are living in poverty, and all of them are at risk for a number of destabilizing factors that plague the working poor. These individuals and families are at high risk for lack of sufficient resources to meet basic needs like food, clothing and utilities; unfair treatment and discrimination by landlords; and lack of access to health care. For this vulnerable population, an unwarranted eviction notice, the presence of domestic violence, wrongful termination of healthcare benefits or difficulty in overcoming barriers to employment can have devastating results. Families may lose or be denied housing, employment or vital medical treatment. In the long run, the constant stress caused by these types of chronic problems can lead to family dysfunction and breakdown.
There are often simple legal solutions to these kinds of problems, allowing these vulnerable residents to begin to move out of these desperate conditions. However, the many burdens of a life of poverty make it extremely difficult, if not impossible in some instances, for a family to focus on a potential legal problem in order to see if it can be resolved. In many cases, low-income families are not even aware of their legal rights. Recent studies demonstrate the difficulty low-income residents face when trying to access legal assistance - a 2002 report by the California Commission on Access to Justice stated that 72% of all low-income Californians do not have access to a lawyer when facing a serious legal issue; and on average low-income households experience at least one civil legal need per year (Legal Services Corporation).
*Residents living at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.
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JM12
12/18/11
I am a deferred Big Law associate who volunteered in the Youth Justice unit of Oakland's Bay Area Legal Aid. I had a great experience there. I worked with extremely intelligent and compassionate attorneys and staff, and I was given the opportunity to represent my own clients, and, with guidance from...
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ator.above
10/07/11
We are a low income family rented an apartment that was horribly infested with fleas. Our landlord refused to provide us with a clean apartment to temporarily stay while waiting for the pet control spray causing us to be homeless for nearly 2 months while still having to pay for the rent. We have ...
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