Fighting for Second Chances: BayLegal’s Reentry Unit

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Interview Series, Anniversary Timeline, Client Story, eNewsletter Story, News
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A cartoon figure stands behind bars with the barriers to reentry listed in red around them
“Fear isn’t holding me back as much”   Luke is the father of two boys. One is three years old, the other seven. He works for a subcontracting company in the East Bay, where he spoke to us by phone from the company’s warehouse. “We’re still working during the pandemic,” he explained. “A lot of …

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Executive Director’s blog, February 2020

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, eNewsletter Story, Executive Director blog, Homepage, News
| Tags: , ,
Genevieve Richardson, Executive Director
Sixty years ago, on February 1, 1960, four Black students from North Carolina A & T College led a carefully organized peaceful protest at a Woolworth lunch counter. Their courage and actions helped to force the nation to confront the injustice of segregation and helped spark a powerful student-led civil rights movement. The students remained …

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Racial Injustice and Our Work

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , , , , , ,
Through our partnerships, individual legal representation, impact litigation, and policy advocacy, we work to break down the barriers that prevent members of our communities from accessing basic necessities of life—healthcare, housing, food, employment—in order to increase their opportunities to lead safe and stable lives. Looming large over our work is the knowledge that many of …

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Pro Bono Spotlight: The Roots of Partnership Between Private Practice and Civil Legal Aid

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Timeline, eNewsletter Story
The 1980s marked a tumultuous period for civil legal aid, given the Reagan Administration’s antipathy toward legal services programs and the resultant policies intended to curtail the work of legal aid agencies across the nation. Indeed, the historical literature describes the Reagan era as “a tremendous roller coaster ride” and a “struggle for survival” for …

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BayLegal Interview Series: Bob Capistrano Reflects on 43 Years of Service

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Interview Series, Attorneys, eNewsletter Story

In this series, we will be sharing the recollections of BayLegal staff and stakeholders (current and former) about their involvement with our work: our fight against poverty and for social justice. It is a collective story involving many people who have played a part in our history. There is no single way to tell our …

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Announcing BayLegal’s 20th Anniversary Storytelling Project!

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Events and Announcements, eNewsletter Story, Executive Director blog, Homepage, News
| Tags: , ,
Genevieve Richardson, Executive Director
Dear friend of Bay Area Legal Aid, 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of Bay Area Legal Aid (BayLegal): twenty years as the largest regional civil legal services firm serving low-income individuals and families in the San Francisco Bay Area; twenty years of building upon the hallowed words and actions of our founders, and our anti-poverty …

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Rooted in the Civil Rights Movement: How BayLegal Became the Largest Regional Law Firm Serving the Poor in the SF Bay Area

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Timeline, eNewsletter Story

This article is the first draft of BayLegal’s origin story: the story of our starting point, and the ways in which we remain connected to it. It is the story of how we and our sister legal services agencies began, the opposition and challenges we faced in our early years, and how that foundation has …

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Call for Participation: February 2020

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Announcements, eNewsletter Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: ,
This Black History Month, it is more important than ever to examine the intersection of racial injustice with our work. We will be dedicating the entirety of the February newsletter to exploring the history and continued commitment to racial equity and addressing the inextricable link between poverty and racism. We’d love to hear from everyone …

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