Community Law Program

CLP provides free civil legal services in the areas of family law, housing law (including landlord-tenant and mortgage foreclosure defense), consumer law (including bankruptcy), probate, guardian advocacy, wills and advance directives, the expungement of criminal records, and transactional legal matters for eligible non-profit organizations. CLP's services help vulnerable residents like seniors, survivors of domestic violence, single parents struggling to raise children, young adults formerly in foster care, veterans, and persons with disabilities. In 2022, we provided free legal assistance to 1,139 unduplicated families and/or non- profit corporations. We also provided legal information, referrals to other community resources, and rental assistance navigation to many others. We helped our clients recover financial benefits of nearly $6.5M and get other life-changing outcomes like avoiding homelessness, breaking free from domestic violence, getting a fresh financial start, and getting peace of mind. These outcomes were made possible in large part because of the donation of local attorneys who volunteered their time and talents to assist our clients. In 2022, 63 different volunteer attorneys donated attorney services valued at $233,165.00. In June of 2022, our Pinellas Eviction Diversion Program, which helps tenants impacted by the pandemic avoid becoming homeless received the highest recognition of any legal aid project in the state of Florida conferred by The Florida Bar Foundation known as the Goldstein Van Nortwick Award.