Legal Assistance to the Elderly

LAE's mission is to protect and advance the right of San Franciscos seniors and adults with disabilities to be housed, healthy, financially stable, and safe. We provide free legal services to San Francisco seniors and adults with disabilities living in San Francisco. During the 2021-22 fiscal year Legal Assistance to the Elderly provided legal advice and/or representation to over 1650 clients. About 90% of our clients are seniors and 10% are adults with disabilities. Most clients are long-term San Francisco residents, who have given decades of their lives to making the city the vibrant and diverse place that it is today. Our client base in 2021-22 was a majority BIPOC:16% African American/Black, 20% Asian, 16% Latinx, one percent Native American,12% Other and 35% white. About 90% of our clients are seniors and 10% are adults with disabilities. A majority of our clients identify as women (54%) and 10% identify as LGBTQ. About 60% of our clients are frail or disabled and 13% are homebound or in a medical facility. Many clients face barriers created by language, culture, and immigration status. Twenty percent of clients are non-English speakers: primarily monolingual Chinese speakers and monolingual Spanish speakers. Our clients are also overwhelmingly low income: 60% of our clients have incomes of less than $1400 per month (or 125% of the Federal Poverty level). Using HUDs income levels for San Francisco, 97% of our clients are considered very low or extremely low-income. This financial vulnerability means that our clients are often separated from homelessness or institutionalization only by the loss of one paycheck or benefit check, or by a worsening health condition. During this fiscal year we have assisted clients in the legal areas including: housing preservation/eviction defense, end of life planning, consumer debt defense, healthcare advocacy, income maintenance/ public benefits (Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, pensions, etc.), and physical and financial abuse protection. We also were funded as the lead agency for the Excelsior Legal Collaborative (ELC), which is providing legal services to San Francisco's Supervisorial District 11 and focuses its work on housing preservation/eviction defense, workers' rights, and immigration.