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Serving the Poor for 36 Years Without Charge

People seeking legal aid either by walking in or by calling Whatever County Legal Aid Society are first greeted by an intake staff member who determines if they are financially eligible for legal servides and whether their legal needs fall within our program priorities. Whatever County Legal Aid Society sets our financial eligibility maximum income level at 125 percent to 175 percent of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services annual federal poverty income guidelines. In 2001, the maximum income level for a family of four is about $XX,XXX.

Funding for Whatever County Legal Aid Society is scarce, so we rely on priority-setting to make the most effective use of limited resources. Our Board of Directors, one-third of whom are client eligible, has to establish priorities in types of cases accepted, weighing the most pressing legal needs of our county's low-income population and realistically assessing how to meet those needs.

Our Mission

We believe in equal access to Justice. We recognize that the poor who suffer with day-to-day problems have the capacity to help solve these problems, given the appropriate resources, authority, and support. We strive to empower the poor by providing high quality legal assistance to the eligible poor in Whatever County who seek legal counsel in civil cases.

We are committed to supporting families, preserving the home, maintaining economic stability, and supporting the client community. In practice, this means we provide effective and efficient delivery of services that enforce the rights of the elderly, low-income tenants, and consumers.

We provide assistance to families suffering from domestic violence, the homeless and others facing unfair eviction, individulas and families infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and poor families with children who are illegally denied public benefits for medical care, food, and housing. We also assist organizations that work with and represent the poor and help strengthen their organizational capacity to rebuild their communities and solve problems facing their neighborhoods.