Your Vote is Creating Affordable Housing in the Bay Area

Did you hear? We won! Last November, we advocated for critical funding for affordable housing through Measure A. The passage of Measure A makes available $950 million to be invested in affordable housing for homeless veterans, those with special needs, seniors, along with low-income working families and first-time home buyers.

This adds to the good news last fall that Measure K in San Mateo County and Measure A1 in Alameda County also passed. Together, these three measures will generate about $2 billion in funds for affordable housing in the Bay Area in the coming years.

Thank you to everyone who voted for these game-changing measures and who supported them as campaign staff, volunteers, donors and champions.  Measure A would not have been possible without the leadership of Santa Clara County Supervisors Cindy Chavez and Dave Cortese, and many of our partner nonprofit organizations in the South Bay.

You're a Champion for our Youngest Clients!

It's #ThrowbackThursday and we'd like to give a final thanks to our amazing supporters at last November's LACY Honors luncheon who raised over $210,000 for the Law Foundation's Legal Advocates for Children & Youth program! Because of you, we can continue to provide life-changing legal help for children and teens dealing with serious issues like physical and sexual abuse, human trafficking, entry into the foster care system and homelessness.

Missed the luncheon? Meet a former client, we shared Macaulay, whose story we shared. He was only 13 years old when he came to the Law Foundation in need of a lawyer to advocate for him after the death of his father.  

We also honored Mary Ritter, a Certified Physician's Assistant at Valley Medical Center who has served as the coordinator of the Center for Child Protection's Pediatric Sexual Assault Response Team (PediSART) for nearly 30 years; and the Juvenile Justice Commission, a state-mandated, court-appointed authority dedicated to the promotion of an effective juvenile justice system operated in an environment of credibility, dignity, fairness and respect for the youth in our community. 

Check out our photos from the event and see if you can spot your friends and colleagues in ourFlickr album!

Special thanks to Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, our 2016 partners, and event co-chairs Alexis Coll-Very, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and Natasha Innocenti, Innocenti Partners.     

Transforming a Community & Changing Lives

Fearing retaliation and in short supply of affordable housing, many tenants and families in our community silently cope with dismal housing conditions, unaware of their rights. Sometimes it takes one person with the courage to come forward and ask for help to create change for an entire group of people. That was the case when Ana* walked into our office.

Ana came to the Law Foundation with several legal questions about tenants' rights. She lived in a mobile home park where the owner had failed to keep the park or mobile homes in proper working order while overcharging for rent, utilities and repairs. Making matters worse, the owners had also made discriminatory remarks about tenants --- violating fair housing laws --- and retaliated against anyone who filed a complaint. They were able to take advantage of vulnerable people who had limited options in the Bay Area's dog-eat-dog rental market.

Law Foundation attorneys and staff investigated, held meetings with tenants throughout the park and filed a lawsuit with help from pro bono partner, DLA Piper. Ultimately, the tenants prevailed in a financial settlement that allowed some families living in the park to move to safe and stable housing, To prevent future unlawful actions by the park's owners --- and potentially more lawsuits --- park management agreed to fair housing training.

Thanks to support from people like you, our attorneys and DLA Piper, Ana and her neighbors learned that they don't have to live in fear. They can stand up for themselves, exercise their rights and expect justice. 

*Name changed to protect identity