Christmas has come early for California's legal aid organizations.
This month, $40 million is going out to more than 100 nonprofits and charities across the state from money left over in a class action settlement with makers of chewing tobacco.
The money -- in some cases hundreds of thousands of dollars -- will help local legal groups avoid cutting services and jobs as they struggle through the recession.
A check for $800,000 arrived at the San Francisco office of California Rural Legal Assistance about a week ago. Jose Padilla, its executive director, said CRLA was bracing for a shortage of about half a million dollars next year in its $13 million program, thanks to uncertainty about federal and state funding. The cy pres money will save the organization from having to cut pay by 7 percent through furloughs, or laying off six to eight of its 60 lawyers. "This is a godsend," Padilla said.
The Asian Law Caucus ran at a surplus last year, but this year fundraising for its $2 million budget is below expectations, said Executive Director Mina Liu. The $400,000 it received Tuesday "will change the conversation" at its board meeting in November. Liu said that, had the money not come in, the legal aid organization would have been discussing cutting services in some harder-to-reach parts of California, including several hundred underserved clients in the Central Valley. The money gives her confidence to go ahead with the two hires, including an attorney, to deal with increased demand for housing and elder law services. "A lot of the issue is cash flow, as opposed to where we are in terms of income and expenses," Liu said. "Cy pres boosts the cash reserves so that we know we can be a little bit more aggressive in terms of program development."
The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles ended last year in a deficit, according to Executive Director Silvia Argueta. After cuts in travel and training and a hiring freeze, the organization is close to its $15 million budget this year. Argueta said the $700,000 in cy pres money received last week will allow the nonprofit to consider hiring a lawyer for housing work and an intake screener for domestic violence complaints. "We were going to reduce some services, including foreclosure counseling," Argueta said. "Some of our grants are ending for that work."
The Bar Association of San Francisco's Volunteer Legal Services Program received its check for $500,000 last week. The organization is planning furloughs that will cost staff between 5 and 10 percent of their salaries in 2010. "Thanks to this money, we will be able to forestall anything more drastic than that," VLSP Executive Director Tiela Chalmers said.
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