In 2011, a couple paid a security deposit for a house they were never allowed to move into. Even after the trial awarded the couple $7,936 for their security deposit, attorney fees, and fraud damages, the sleazy landlord refused to pay.

After a teenage girl’s first protective order expired, her ex-boyfriend began harassing her again. It quickly became obvious she needed another protective order against him. Former AVLF Board President and passionate volunteer Elizabeth Finn Johnson offered to represent her in a hearing that lasted nearly six hours on a Friday afternoon. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Morris lived in a freezing, rat-infested basement apartment, barely making ends meet. When he lost his job waiting tables at a local restaurant, his landlord gave him a 30-day notice to move.  But the very next day, Morris came home to find his belongings outside and the locks changed.

We are grateful to all of our May 2017 volunteers.

The 5th Annual Beer Tasting & BBQ Battle, held on the evening of June 8, raised over $80,000 for the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. Park Tavern was host to more than 750 guests, who drank craft beers and sampled delicious BBQ.

Producer Stephannie Stokes spent time learning about how AVLF is advocating for tenants in the Thomasville Heights neighborhood – advocating for both better housing and better education.

When AVLF launched the Standing with Our Neighbors program in September 2016, there were a lot of things we didn’t know, but one thing we did: families needed help. With enrollment turnover surging to 40% during the 2015-2016 school year, we knew families needed help to keep their kids in school. Here’s what we’ve accomplished so far, by the numbers.

These seemingly small actions – a call to a landlord, a demand letter sent – change the lives of the people we work to help. They are already facing huge obstacles in their day-to-day: they don’t have the income to meet their own daily needs and are not respected in many spaces.

Erica Taylor is many things: an aunt, a lawyer, a fighter. But her newest title is the one we are most excited about. She will soon become our Safe & Stable Homes Project Staff Attorney, taking over AVLF’s flagship program, the Saturday Lawyer Program.

One of five recipients of a scholarship to attend the annual Family Law Institute, Safe and Stable Families Director Jamie Perez was singled out for her accomplishments as an attorney to receive the designation.

The Atlanta Bar Association awarded Elizabeth Ann Whipple the accolade due to her abundant service to the Atlanta legal community and her commitment to survivors of domestic violence. This is the first time the Bar has given the award posthumously.

We are grateful to our April 2017 volunteers!