San Mateo County’s Legal Aid Society provides services to low-income community

“Across a wide span of law, we’re doing the same kind of work — safety net work,” Hawver said. 

When income levels affect an individual’s ability to obtain quality counsel or navigate the justice system with a fighting shot, that’s where Legal Aid Society and its lawyers step in. 

While many of the nonprofit’s areas of expertise are under particular threat under the new federal administration, Hawver said, the organization is continuing work that it has always done. 

Unlike many other legal service organizations across the country, Legal Aid Society does not receive any funding from the Legal Services Corporation, a major grant provider. Because of this, the San Mateo County nonprofit is able to represent residents who don’t have legal documentation, which makes up a lot of the demographic they are able to help. 

“We are seeing a huge need for that right now,” Hawver said. “The community is frightened, people are afraid to go to school, to take their kids to school, people are afraid to go to court.” 

For instance, many survivors of domestic violence that the nonprofit is working with were once interested in pursuing a restraining order against their perpetrator. But now, they are rethinking taking that step out of fear that immigration officials will make arrests at court, Hawver said.  

“It’s one of the most pressing issues we’re seeing, and it’s through all aspects of our practice,” Hawver said. 

Legal Aid Society’s biggest uptick in service requests in the past year is their work in collaboration with the San Mateo County Rapid Response Network. 

The Rapid Response Network is a collaboration of county nonprofits and organizations committed to providing the immigrant community with effective legal support, in particular in emergency situations to individuals who are detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A 24/7 hotline — reachable at (203) 666-4472 or (203) NO-MIGRA — is operated by volunteers with the nonprofit Faith in Action, which will then contact emergency response attorneys, some from Legal Aid Society. 

“That has brought home for us how many people are out there who haven’t accessed legal services at all because they can’t afford them, and all the free legal services are full,” Hawver said. “There is an incredible need out there.” 

Legal Aid Society is working on increasing access to low-income undocumented residents more proactively, Hawver said. The goal is to help establish an initial point of contact, so people know who they can reach out to for help. 

Responding to the hotline requests may be a matter of helping Faith in Action volunteers relay to individuals what their options are, deploy attorneys on scene of arrests, or establishing a longer term legal service for individuals in need. 

In one instance, a 15-year-old called the hotline because she had missed her immigration hearing after being abandoned by her parents, Hawver said. An on-call attorney was able to work quickly to reopen her case and is now helping her navigate the very complex system as a juvenile.  

Another area of legal service that the organization is seeing concern over is health care. Currently, Legal Aid Society’s attorneys are working to identify what the threats are to residents on Medi-Cal — of which there are around 150,000 — and what any federal cuts to funding will mean. In particular, there’s concern over how residents without documentation will obtain insurance, and how health for queer individuals, especially transgender youth, will continue, Hawver said. 

The work of the Legal Aid Society was recently recognized by Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, for its focus on serving the most vulnerable communities in San Mateo County. Berman named the organization as a 2025 California Nonprofit of the Year, alongside over a hundred others selected by state senators and assemblymembers. 

“At a time when both marginalized communities and the legal profession are under unprecedented attack, legal aid clinics are a shining light, ensuring that everyone has access to zealous representation,” Berman said in a press release. 

Hawver said the recognition was a reminder that “we’re standing together saying we’re still here.” 

As a long-standing organization, funding reserves and multiple funding streams keep the organization not at the mercy of fluctuations, Hawver said. 

While federal funding makes up a small portion of the organization’s funds, a major block grant is dedicated to eviction defense, which is one of the practices of the Legal Aid Society with the highest volume of service. Legal Aid Society attorneys represent more than 700 eviction-related cases a year, Hawver said. 

The trickle-down effect is still being closely watched, Hawver said. As the federal administration makes cuts to state funds, and the state cuts back to balance its own budget, that all rolls down, Hawver said. 

For now, Legal Aid Society is focused on helping families stay in their homes, older adults get health care, children get the services they need to succeed in school, and be a safe contact for the immigrant community. 

“It’s a time of great uncertainty. All the government organizations and nonprofits are holding their breaths a little,” Hawver said. “But we’re not at risk of going anywhere.”