Law Foundation Comments on Community Mobile Response

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley provided comments in response to the Mental Health Services Act Innovation Project-15: Community Mobile Response.

The Law Foundation supports a new and innovative Crisis Mobile Response (CMR), but encourage the Behavioral Health Department and Board of Supervisors to be thorough and thoughtful in creating a pilot that puts our communities experiencing mental health crises first, particularly paying close attention to the impacts of police response to our Black, Brown, and other communities of color.

Read the full comments here.

The Luxury of Staying Home, Welcoming New Health Directing Attorney | Latest News from the Law Foundation

Dear Friend, 

If you’re like me, you spent the final days of 2020 reflecting on what a challenging year it was and looking forward to a fresh start in 2021.

Now that the new year is well underway, it’s obvious that any sense of calm we envisioned was not meant to be! 

As you’ll read in this month’s e-newsletter, the housing crisis continues to loom large for our clients and so many people in Silicon Valley. Our team is highlighting the incredible challenges facing low-income renters of color in our community in addition to providing critical legal representation. 

My colleagues in our Children & Youth Program are advocating for one important step in ending the school-to-prison pipeline by removing police from schools and allocating more funding for educational justice. 

We have good news to share about the addition of Abre’ Conner to our team. With extensive experience in law and civil rights advocacy, Abre’ is already bringing to bear her leadership skills and depth of knowledge of health equity issues. 

The Law Foundation’s longtime supporter Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP recently launched a Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Fellowship Program, to deploy six fellows to working full-time on civil rights, racial justice and economic empowerment issues at nonprofit organizations. We are fortunate to be an early beneficiary with the arrival of Fellow Roza Patterson. 

Finally, we were awarded a generous grant from Facebook as part of its nationwide effort to support nonprofits working on racial justice issues. 

I am grateful to our incredible partners who continue to invest in the Law Foundation community. 

With gratitude, 

Alison Brunner, Esq. 
CEO

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NEWS

The Luxury of Staying Home - Law Foundation Data Shows Communities of Color & Women Most At-Risk of Housing Instability

On Feb. 1, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley's Housing Program hosted a webinar "The Luxury of Staying Home,” attended by almost 200 elected officials, housing advocates, and community members. 

The webinar focused on the experiences of low-income renters. Not everyone has had the luxury of staying home during the pandemic, despite guidance from local and state officials that staying home is the best way to protect yourself and your family. Low-income renters and people of color, who make up a disproportionate number of those impacted by the pandemic and its economic stress, are facing unprecedented obstacles to health, stability, and access to housing. 

“This public health crisis has only exacerbated the housing crisis that we were already in”, said Nadia Aziz, directing attorney. “And we know the ongoing housing crisis exacerbated the public health crisis. When people are housing insecure they’re more at risk of getting sick.”  

Aziz provided data and insight into the current state of low-income tenants amidst the pandemic. A panel featuring community leaders discussed the critical role safe housing plays in the well-being of adults and children.

Since the pandemic hit, the Law Foundation’s Housing program has served more than 4,000 people, a 20% increase from the same period last year. About one-third of those clients are families with children and two-thirds of residents calling are women, representing a 14% increase.

The data presented also highlights that Black and Latina/o/x families are disproportionately impacted, as they make up two-thirds of the people who are calling the Law Foundation seeking help. This year, we are seeing a 30% increase in the number of Latino/a/x families served from 2019. Learn more by watching the recorded webinar here.

Housing program data shows the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families and women.

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Welcoming Abre' Conner as the Law Foundation's Health Directing Attorney

The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley is pleased to welcome its new Directing Attorney of Health Abre’ Conner. As Directing Attorney, Abre’ will lead the organization’s litigation and advocacy regarding health equity and the social determinants of health that impact historically excluded communities across Silicon Valley. Abre’ sits on the Law Foundation’s race equity and inclusion steering committee and leads work regarding jail conditions in Santa Clara County.  

Prior to joining the Law Foundation, Abre’ was a staff attorney with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, where she advocated for the civil rights and liberties of Central Valley and Northern California residents. She led their statewide data collection campaign within the ACLU’s racial and economic justice program regarding COVID-19 related public health data collection and accountability. Read more.

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Orrick Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Fellowship Program

We are excited to partner with Roza Patterson of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as part of Orrick’s Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Fellowship Program.  

In 2020, Orrick launched this program to partner with organizations working on the frontlines to address both local community needs and national policy. The six Fellows will devote an entire year to working full-time on civil rights, racial justice and economic empowerment issues at nonprofit organizations. 

With a master’s in human rights, Roza brings a strong commitment to pro bono service to Orrick. She has focused on helping victims of domestic violence and unfair eviction and defending clients’ rights under the Criminal Justice Act. At the Law Foundation, she will continue her work on litigation advocacy and eviction defense on behalf of underrepresented individuals and families in Santa Clara County.

Please join us in welcoming Roza as she helps us continue to fight for equity on behalf of low-income people and communities of color. Read more.

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Law Foundation in the News 

• More Than 500 Bay Area Residents Have Been Evicted During the Pandemic, Despite Protections (KQED)

• California Renters Face Eviction as Pandemic Protections Expire (San Jose Inside)

• Mountain View Voters Passed Measure C. Now What Happens to RV Dwellers? (KQED)

• San Jose approves rent freeze for apartments, mobile homes through June (San Jose Spotlight)

• South Bay tenants, landlords anxious as evictions loom, debt piles up (San Jose Spotlight)

• Facebook Live: Renters Rights Against Evictions / Derechos de Inquilinos Contra Desalojos (Univision)

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ADVOCACY

Community Action for Police Free Schools

The Law Foundation works closely with community organizers, parents, and students in the struggle against systemic racism in schools and in advocating for educational justice. Currently, our attorneys are planning a three-part learning series for the Valley Medical Center pediatric community about the school-to-prison pipeline. 

During the upcoming school year, we plan to meet with frontline providers to discuss the racial inequities that our clients face, including the lack of special education assessment and services for students of color, inequities for non-English-language learners, the disproportionate impact of suspension and expulsion policies on students of color, and the need to remove police from schools. 

For more information about these issues, our staff recommends:

• Watching "Black Lives Matter at School: California Edition" and reading the book "Black Lives Matter at School An Uprising for Educational Justice", which highlights the grassroots efforts that attorneys and advocates can take in partnership with our community to create equitable learning environments for all children. The video features a panel that includes a local San Jose teacher, Taunya Jaco.

• Reading “What We Believe: A Black Lives Matter Principles Activity Book.”

• Read “We Need Police Out of Our Schools—Now”, an interview with Minneapolis student leader Nathanial Genene about the uprising, removing police from public schools, and the need to rethink what school looks like.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Law Foundation Awarded Facebook Racial Justice Grant

We’re excited to share that the Law Foundation received a generous grant of more than $270,000 on behalf of Facebook employees as part of their commitment to support local and national nonprofits working on racial justice in the United States.

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Housing Program Provides Education on Tenants Rights

As eviction moratoriums change, our attorneys and community housing advocates are continuing to answer renters’ questions through phone, email, and community outreach. Most recently, our team held an online webinar about SB91, California’s extension of the existing eviction moratorium. More resources.

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DACA Accepting New Applications

A federal judge ordered DACA to begin accepting new applications for the program, which protected undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. This is great news for some of our Children & Youth clients who receive help from our attorneys and social workers in applying when they’re eligible. Read more.

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Protecting LGBTQIA People From Discrimination

The Law Foundation applauds President Biden’s Executive Order solidifying the government’s obligation to protect LGBTQIA people from discrimination in federally funded programs. The Law Foundation made public comments opposing several of the prior administration’s attempts to weaken these protections. Read more.

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PRO BONO SPOTLIGHT

Ninth Circuit Upholds San Jose Rent Registry 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld San Jose's Rent Registry. Thank you to the Cooley LLP team for partnering with us to submit an amicus brief in support of the registry, which requires landlords in rent-controlled buildings to provide information to the city to ensure compliance with renter protections.

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2021 EARLY ANNUAL PARTNERS

A special thank you to our early 2021 Annual Partners who have already committed to supporting the Law Foundation for the upcoming year.

List as of Feb. 18, 2021

Platinum Partners ($110,000+)

PALLADIUM ($50,000)

McManis Faulkner

silver ($35,000)

NetApp

Copper ($25,000)

KLA Foundation

Silicon ($15,000)

Adobe
Ankura Consulting Group
eBay, Inc.

Iron ($10,000)

Cadence Design Systems
Elevate
Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP

Webinar: The Luxury of Staying Home

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Join us in community to learn about the critical role safe housing plays in the well-being of adults and children. Hear firsthand accounts on the fight to keep our neighbors housed and ideas on how we can strengthen this movement.

EVENT WILL BE SIMULTANEOUSLY INTERPRETED IN SPANISH & VIETNAMESE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2021
5:30 PM - 6:30 PM

REGISTER ONLINE: bit.ly/LFstayinghome

For more information or accommodations, email kiyomi.yamamoto@lawfoundation.org.

PANEL FEATURING:

The Law Foundation’s upcoming housing event will feature a moderated panel about the important role safe housing plays in educational achievement and the health and well-being of adults and children. Learn more about the moderator and featured speakers below. 

Moderator: Gabriela Chavez-Lopez, SV@Home and President of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

Gabriela is a community catalyst, committed to uplifting and championing community voices around challenging issues in our community — particularly those that disproportionately affect low-income communities & people of color. As a committed "Houser," she currently is digging into housing-solutions as the Communications and Membership Manager, for the leading housing policy, research, and advocacy organization in Silicon Valley, SV@Home. Gabriela is focused and dedicated to making Silicon Valley a more vibrant and equitable place for all of us to live and thrive. She is also the President of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley — herself a proud product of their flagship Latina leadership and civic engagement pipeline. As a “tri-sector athlete” she is experienced in effective and productive engagement in all three sectors: nonprofit, private, and government.

She has been selected to participate in a variety of leadership development opportunities and programs including Harvard Business School’s Young American Leaders Academy, California’s Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) Program, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley’s Engaged Latina Leadership Activists (ELLA) Program, and the USC Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics Certificate Program. She was also honored by the Commission on the Status of Women in 2020 as an “Extraordinary Women of 2020” based on her extensive community involvement and volunteerism.

Nadia Aziz, Housing Directing Attorney, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley

Nadia Aziz is the Housing Directing Attorney at the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley. Nadia has led groundbreaking housing litigation and policy advocacy throughout Silicon Valley in her role at the Law Foundation. Her work includes a multi-year effort to save Palo Alto’s only mobile home park, and class action fair housing litigation that asserted the right of Section 8 voucher holders to reasonable accommodations for additional bedrooms. Before working at the Law Foundation, Nadia was a housing attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid's Santa Clara County office where she represented tenants in unlawful detainer matters. Nadia graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2007. Nadia is married and has two daughters.

Dr. Ayindé Rudolph Ed.D., Superintendent, Mountain View Whisman School District

Dr. Rudolph has been the Superintendent since 2015. Previously, he served as Associate Director of School Transformation at the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood, a federally funded program, modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone that encourages communities to develop public-private partnerships. His achievements during his tenure with the Promise Neighborhood included instituting a 1:1 learning environment, which received recognition from President Obama and Secretary Arne Duncan at the White House; the implementation of a new teacher evaluation system; and three new curricula aligned to the new national standards. 

Dr. Rudolph received his Doctorate in Education in Leadership, Policy and Organizations from Vanderbilt University. He also holds an Educational Specialist degree in Educational Leadership and Administration as well as a Master of Education in Secondary Education from George Washington University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from Wittenberg University.

Jerome Shaw, President of the Sunnyvale Clients Collaborative at the Sunnyvale Homeless Shelter

Jerome Shaw has been homeless for 3 1/2 years and currently resides at a HomeFirst shelter in Sunnyvale. Jerome first became homeless in May 2013 when the four-plex apartment building he was living in was purchased and the new owner moved in. Living with his son and on unemployment in West San Jose at the time, Jerome bounced around from renting hotel rooms and staying with friends for about a year until he found a job and an apartment in early 2014. Due to complications related to his mental health, Jerome lost his job in 2015, was evicted from his apartment, and lost custody of his son, who was sent to live with his mother full time. Since then, Jerome has been homeless and has struggled with mental health issues. Jerome hopes to shine a light on the importance of mental health care, and the lack of care that is being provided to individuals who desperately need it.

Today, Jerome is the president of the Sunnyvale Shelter Client Collaborative and an apprentice in the local sheet metal workers union.

Tiffany Vuong, Tenant Organizer and Community Leader from Milpitas

Tiffany was born and raised in the South Bay. Having experienced housing insecurity and due to the lack of affordability in the area, she is a community organizer and advocate for housing. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2018 with a B.A. in Sociology and has been involved in social change work since moving back home. She mobilized voters of color with Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network (SIREN) for the 2018 midterm elections and started working with the Milpitas Renters Coalition in early 2019 to fight for tenant protections. 

Passionate about climate, racial, and housing justice, she ran for Milpitas City Council in 2020 and won over 7,000 votes in a tight race with eight candidates vying for two seats. Some integral parts of her platform included holding developers accountable for building affordable housing, protecting working class people, and utilizing the Housing First model to address homelessness. She embraced policies to create permanently affordable housing, such as community land trusts and limited-equity co-ops. She is also supportive of a Community Opportunity to Purchase ordinance which would allow a non-profit organization to make the first purchase offer when a multi-family complex is to be sold.