Fighting for Second Chances: BayLegal’s Reentry Unit

| By BayLegal
Categories: 20th Anniversary, Anniversary Interview Series, Anniversary Timeline, Client Story, eNewsletter Story, News
| Tags: , , , , , ,
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 …

Read More

Spotlight on Advocacy Partnerships: Johnnie & Andrea

| By Sarah Hopkins
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , , , ,
Three people smiling at a housewarming party
Johnnie B. finally has a home of his own. It isn’t just another apartment, with a new lease, and a new landlord. It’s his first home after ten years of living without a home altogether. Johnnie has visceral memories of living on the streets. “Life was miserable homeless,” he said. “You stay hungry. You stay …

Read More

Advocating for safe, habitable public housing in Richmond

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , ,
Street sign pointing to Richmond
A story posted at Richmond Confidential yesterday by Mariam Zagub shines a light on the often severe barriers to safe, habitable housing that low-income tenants with disabilities can face. The story focuses on BayLegal client Michael Lewis and his attorney Henrissa Bassey, and details Mr. Lewis’ struggles with a lack of disabled access and other …

Read More

“All I Needed to Do Was Tell My Story”: A Survivor’s Perspective

| By Sarah Hopkins
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , ,
clasped hands of a mother and daughter
Anna works as a full-time medical assistant, and she is a single mother to a three-year-old daughter. She explained with a laugh that those details alone describe her life at present: “There’s no time for anything!” Anna generously took time out of her lunch break to share her experience seeking legal representation for protection against …

Read More

Raising Up Voices Impacted by Investment in Civil Legal Aid

| By Sarah Hopkins
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , , , , ,
Alida Pepper giving a speech at a podium
Last month, Executive Director Genevieve Richardson introduced Skyler M. Rosellini, Staff Attorney with our Health Consumer Center (HCC) and his inspiring client, Álida Pepper, to an audience gathered to recognize the importance of investment in civil legal aid—and the need for more. The event was hosted by the American Bar Association at their annual meeting …

Read More

Fighting to Preserve Housing in Richmond

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , , ,
Two women stand next to each other in news clip
An August 26th story on Univisión 14 features a Richmond tenant and BayLegal client, Susana, who is facing eviction from one of three storage units that were illegally constructed by the landlord and subsequently red-tagged by the City of Richmond. Susana, along with the other tenants of these units, came to BayLegal through our Richmond …

Read More

Lawsuit Results in a Fair Chance for Job Seekers

| By BayLegal
Categories: Announcements, Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: ,
Five people stand smiling in front of brick wall
West Contra Costa Unified School District settles hiring case, gives a fair chance to job applicants with prior convictions   May 8, 2019 (Richmond, California) – Bay Area Legal Aid and the Impact Fund have together reached a landmark settlement with West Contra Costa Unified School District, on behalf of clients The Safe Return Project …

Read More

BayLegal represents San Francisco teen client fighting eviction from his late grandmother’s apartment

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: , ,
Neighborhood in San Francisco with the Bay Bridge int the background
A story in the March 7, 2019 SF Chronicle by Kimberly Veklerov presents the case of Terrance Hall. Mr. Hall, 18 years old and working to complete his senior year in high school, is fighting an attempt by The John Stewart Company to remove him from the public housing unit he shared with his grandmother …

Read More

Working to Bring Eboni Route Home for the Holidays

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story, Homepage, News
| Tags: ,
black and white Oakland skyline with Bay Bridge in the background
A story in today’s San Francisco Chronicle by Kimberly Veklerov details the challenges faced by Eboni Route in fighting an improper lockout by the Oakland Housing Authority. Represented by her BayLegal attorneys Rebekah Evenson and Emma Dinkelspiel, Eboni was in court and at her OHA housing site today, hoping the agency would abide by a …

Read More

Spotlight on Stability

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story, Litigation
| Tags: ,
Homelessness Prevention One evening in the fall of 2013, the Nativi family found themselves locked out of their home and all their belongings thrown into the yard. They had been renting a converted garage unit for several years when the property became the subject of a foreclosure sale. The Nativi’s had known nothing of the foreclosure sale in advance and had ten …

Read More

Spotlight on Health

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story
| Tags: ,
Health Consumer Center Mark, 34, was eager to get back on track with his life and career. Seven years’ sober and looking forward to starting a family, Mark approached a local dental provider about fixing his teeth. The dentist recommended dentures, and extracted all 26 of his teeth in one sitting. He was in extreme …

Read More

Spotlight on Safety

| By BayLegal
Categories: Client Story
| Tags: , ,
Two women sit on armchairs smiling
Elder Abuse Prevention Dory is known throughout her tight-knit community for her many acts of kindness and generosity, like balancing checkbooks for her neighbors and opening her home to her recently-divorced daughter. After moving in, Dory’s daughter invited her own adult daughter and grandchildren to live in the house, causing Dory to often be confined …

Read More