SVCLS.ORG

Santa Clara Asian Law Alliance
http://www.asianlawalliance.org/
For more information, visit their website.

Since 1977, the Santa Clara County Asian Law Alliance (ALA) has been providing multilingual, culturally sensitive legal services, community education and advocacy services to the low-income Asian Pacific Islander population in Santa Clara County. According to the 2000 Census, there are 435,868 Asian/Pacific Islander people in the County, many of whom are recent immigrants or refugees and have little or no English skills and limited economic means. The Asian/Pacific Islander community is diverse,
including Vietnamese, Filipinos, Chinese, Cambodians, Koreans and Japanese.

ALA provides free and low-cost legal advice and representation, information and referrals in these areas: immigration/citizenship, employment law,
housing, consumer law, domestic violence, government
benefits and issues specifically affecting the elderly. The agency coordinates community education and legal assistance to ensure basic human and civil rights.

In 2000, ALA assisted more than 958 individuals through its legal assistance component. Clients are 84% Asian/Pacific Islander, 7% Hispanic, 8% White, 1% Black. Fifteen percent are disabled. Sixty-three
percent of clients are female and 37% are males. The majority of clients are limited in English, do not understand the legal system and face the reality of discrimination.

In 2000, the community education program reached an additional 7,624 people through 121 multilingual presentations where recent immigrants and refugees become familiar with the U.S. legal

system. Presentations are scheduled at refugee service agencies, vocational training programs, English classes, senior centers, and citizenship classes. ALA’s 2000 budget was $505,744. Of this amount, fees and grants from government agencies provided 42%, individuals and businesses contributed 25%, law firms and bar associations donated 9%, along with Foundations that granted 8%. United Way contributed 15%. The remaining 1% comes from interest and other revenues. The agency employs five FTE attorneys.