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 2024-25 fiscal year Legal Assistance to the Elderly provided legal advice and/or representation to over 1850 clients. 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 2024-25 was a majority BIPOC: 21% Asian, 17% African American/Black, 16% Latinx, 1% Native American, 4% Other and 41% White. About 90% of our clients are seniors and 10% are adults with disabilities. A majority of our clients identify as women (54%) and 11% identify as LGBTQ. About 60% of our clients are living with a disability and 13% are homebound or in a medical facility. Twenty percent of clients are non-English speakers: primarily monolingual Chinese speakers and monolingual Spanish speakers. Our clients are also overwhelmingly low income: 55% of our clients have incomes of less than $1,650 per month (or 125% of the Federal Poverty level). Using HUDs income levels for San Francisco, 95% 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.), physical and financial abuse protection and CARE Court representation. Last year, we were also funded as the lead agency for the Excelsior Legal Collaborative (ELC), which provided legal services to San Francisco's Southwest Neighborhoods and focuses its work on housing preservation/eviction defense, workers' rights, and immigration.