AVLF strives to be the last call someone has to make to get help: we either help callers directly through one of our programs, or we identify the very best resource available in our community to help them. Each year, more than 15,000 such potential clients contact our office for help. Over 5,000 of these individuals receive legal advice or representation from our staff or from the 400-600 annual attorney volunteers and law students who work with us.
Saturday Lawyer Program
The Saturday Lawyer Program provides Fulton and Clayton Counties’ working poor with access to high-quality legal advice and representation by trained volunteer attorneys in areas vital to economic security.
Safe Families Office / Domestic Violence
AVLF provides consultation services for survivors to get information about their legal options and referrals for other appropriate assistance. Each appointment also includes safety planning advice and focuses on respecting the survivor’s opinions and goals. If filing a civil temporary protective order is appropriate and desired, we offer assistance with completing the legal documents.
Standing with Our Neighbors
Families cannot thrive without affordable housing that is safe, stable, and allows for a healthy environment. Schools cannot thrive with a student body forced to live in unstable housing and deplorable conditions. In Atlanta, where nearly half of the residents are renters, far too many families struggle to obtain and maintain rental housing that lives up to those basic but critical standards. Our children suffer as a result, from deteriorating health to roadblocks to pursuing their education. This is the vision behind ALVF’s Standing with Our Neighbors initiative.
Eviction Defense
The Eviction Defense Program provides low-income and unrepresented tenants facing eviction with attorneys to represent them in court in their critical time of need.
Dollars for Judgments
The Dollars for Judgments Program places creditors’ rights attorneys to work on behalf of low-income clients who have obtained a judgment as a result of an injustice done to them.
Guardian ad Litem
Divorcing parents often fight over custody of their children. Judges are responsible for deciding with whom and on what terms the children of a divorce will live and visit. To determine the children’s best interests, especially in high conflict cases where the parents argue every assertion the other makes, the Judges frequently ask to have the help of a Guardian ad Litem.
Community Legal Health
Explore our Community Legal Health Program and current innovation/partnership with CareSource, a prominent medical services provider, where clients benefit from a variety of rental and utility assistance location, community resources, client advocacy, mold testing, health products, counseling, and more – a holistic approach to community well-being!
