This month, several of our staff members spoke on panels across the country, sharing the impact of their work at the intersection of housing, health, and domestic violence.

Atlanta Public Schools honored Staff Attorney Ayanna Jones-Lightsy with the 2018 Unsung Hero of the Year Award for her impact on the school community through the Standing with Our Neighbors™ program.

Karmel Keeton (our former summer intern from Mississippi College of Law) and Angelik Edmonds (our former University of California President’s Public Service Legal Fellow) offer a short reflection on their time at Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.

COLE THALER | August 28, 2018 The word “race” does not appear in AVLF’s mission statement or vision statement, but there’s no question that the work we do on behalf […]

Cheyenne worked as a behavioral aid for a management consulting firm. Although the firm promised to pay her the money she earned, she was never paid.

When management wanted to renovate Gabriella’s apartment, they temporarily relocated her to another unit with a horrible bedbug infestation. She didn’t hear a word from management for three weeks.

After Hurricane Irma, Anna’s house was all but falling apart. With the help of one of our volunteer attorneys, Colby Nixon, Anna avoided $3,425 in costs.

Thanks to Laura Smithman and Margaret Flatt, Jade didn’t have to face her fear of testifying in open court about the abuse that she endured.

Jeffrey Tompkins, a volunteer, supporter, and long-time friend of AVLF, recalls his very first Saturday Lawyer experience – with a surprising twist.

John already had serious health problems which required surgeries and nurse home visits before his issues with his home began. But the nurses refused to keep coming for home visits because of hazardous conditions at his property.

Every day in Atlanta, landlords carry out illegal evictions. They toss their tenants out without the benefit of court filings or a hearing, often because rent is a few days late. Most of the tenants who call AVLF have no prior warning of these “self-help” evictions. They simply return home to find that their key no longer fits in the lock, and peer through their own windows to see that all of their belongings have been removed or ransacked.

In Atlanta, mold infestations are common. When our subtropical summers meet a negligent landlord, fungus can flourish on the walls, causing a wide range of health problems. Standing with Our Neighbors (SWON) staff members are no strangers to this issue.