Pennsylvania is now accepting applications for the Homeowner Assistance Fund (PAHAF)

Updated 02/01/2021 Para información en Español   The Pennsylvania Homeowner Assistance Fund (PAHAF) provides up to $30,000 to help homeowners who have experienced a financial hardship related to COVID. Last year, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. The Rescue Plan included $350 million to help Pennsylvania homeowners who have experienced a financial hardship related…

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Report from CLS and PULP Reveals Energy Insecurity Among Black and Latinx Households in Pennsylvania

Today, Community Legal Services and the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project released a report that reveals that Black and Latinx households in Pennsylvania are more likely to experience unaffordable utility costs and fall behind on their utility bills at a much higher rate than white households. Many of these same communities were hardest hit by COVID-19…

COVID-19’s Impact on Race and Housing Security Across Philadelphia: Philadelphia Renters Report

Read the full report  Racial and economic disparities in affordable housing existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet, new data from the US Census Bureau suggest that the pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout are only widening these divides. When paired with a global pandemic, we anticipate a national wave of homelessness that will…

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Report: Supporting Women in the Criminal Legal System Through Access to Diversionary Programs

Today, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia, as part of Incarcerated Women’s Working Group (“Working Group”) released a report on increasing access to diversionary programs for women in the criminal legal system. Diversion programs divert individuals accused of crimes away from traditional court trial and sentencing proceedings, instead requiring participation in community service, treatment, and other…

Black Survival Is Black History

The following post was written by Kee Tobar, Director of Race Equity & Inclusion at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia. Not too long ago I was asked for an elevator pitch concerning what Community Legal Services does within a racial justice context. At first it was hard to condense the many things we do into…