California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit legal service and political advocacy organization created to help California's low-income individuals and communities. CRLA represents all types of individuals and communities, including farmworkers, disabled people, immigrant populations, school children, LGBT populations (sexual minorities), seniors, and individuals with limited English proficiency. CRLA's current executive director is Jessica Jewell.
CRLA has 18 offices which serve to meet the legal needs of rural communities from the Mexican border to Northern California. These offices are located in Arvin, Coachella, Delano, El Centro, Fresno, Madera, Marysville, Modesto, Oakland, Salinas, San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Vista, Oxnard, and Watsonville. The main administrative office is located in Oakland. Having multiple regional offices allows CRLA to serve clients in their own communities all over the state.
Funding for CRLA comes from multiple sources. As of 2019, approximately 49% of revenue comes from Legal Services Corporation (LSC) grants. State Bar grants make up 17% of its revenue, while other grants make up 24%. Donations make up 4%, and the remaining 6% comes from various sources. 80% of CRLA's expenses are for program services. Management and general expenses make up 12% of the share, while fundraising makes up 4%.
Services
Since 1966, CRLA provides people with a low income, free legal assistance and a variety of community education and outreach programs. Major resources are committed to impact litigation, multi-client cases that seek to address the root causes of poverty. CRLA's legal services include litigation, outreach, and legal education.
In addition to traditional legal representation, CRLA has created a series of special programs and initiatives, including a Community Equity Initiative, Indigenous Program, LGBTQ+ Program, Lending Discrimination Project, Rural Education Equity Program, and Rural Health Disparities Program.
History
California Rural Legal Assistance was founded in 1966 by James D. Lorenz under the auspices of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. The first meeting took place on Saturday, May 14, 1966, at 1411 West Olympic Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Those in attendance included, Cruz Reynoso, Cesar Chavez, Larry Itliong, and CRLA Founder, James D. Lorenz.
CRLA was originally funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). In his first funding request for CRLA, Lorenz wrote about his vision for CRLA, a "Proposal to aid farm workers and other poor persons residing in the rural areas of California". From the beginning, CRLA offered exemplary legal services at very low costs for clients. By the late 1960s, the agency handled about 15,000 cases a year, a third of which were primarily concerned with consumer and employment problems. In addition to lawyers, clerks, and researchers, CRLA employed community workers, most of whom were formerly farm workers, who were the bridge between the agency and the communities they sought to serve.
CRLA's founder and first executive director, James (Jim) D. Lorenz, served from 1966 to 1969. He died January 19, 2017. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Lorenz first worked at a large Los Angeles-based law firm before changing directions and applying for OEO funding for what would soon become CRLA in the spring of 1966. Lorenz was described as an energetic director who recruited iconic United Farm Workers organizers Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta to the CRLA Board of Directors. Lorenz was featured in a December 15, 1967, Time magazine article that highlighted CRLA's mission to serve California's labourers and rural poor. This represented one of the first instances of national recognition of CRLA's ground breaking work.