Why legal services?

Some problems require a legal remedy but many low income residents do not have access to civil justice. Employment, housing, residency status, benefits etc. may be blocked unless or until a legal issue is resolved. The Foundation sees legal aid as a bridge to social justice, without which people cannot move forward with their lives.

What do you mean by “direct legal services”?

Examples of direct legal services are organizations that have attorneys on staff who provide legal aid to their clients. The breadth of services includes but is not limited to helping an individual or family with immigration problems, landlord/tenant issues, family law/domestic violence, juvenile dependency, senior/end of life issues, accessing federal benefits, or representing victims of predatory lenders, housing discrimination, wage exploitation etc.

I submitted my completed application by the deadline; when will it be reviewed?

We will do our best to have your proposal ready for board review at the next regularly scheduled board meeting. However, sometimes additional due diligence is required or unforeseen circumstances arise that result in our having to move proposals to future dockets. If this happens, we would let you know as soon as possible.

I have a question about my application. Whom should I contact?

If you are calling to check on the status of your application, you can contact Angela Hom, Administrative Assistant, at ahom@vlsrr.org or 415-512-0500. If you have a question that relates to your request, you can contact Nancy Wiltsek, Executive Director, at nwiltsek@vlsrr.org or (415) 512-0577. If you have a question about the Online Grants Manager System, you can contact Heidi Emmel, Online Grants Consultant, by email at hkemmel@vlsrr.org

Can we submit a request for $50,000 for our systemic anti-racism work?

We welcome all requests to address systemic racism that are in the legal services/legal advocacy sphere but please note that the $50,000 grants awarded in July 2020 were one-time grants to a select group of organizations (those with BIPOC leadership and a long standing relationship with the Foundation).