National Housing Law Project Housing Law Bulletin

Drastic Cuts in Legal Services Force Deep Cuts
in Housing Law Project Staff and Services

Dear Friends:

In response to the devastating slashing of our 1995 Legal Services Corporation ("LSC") grant, and in anticipation of zero LSC funding for national support in 1996, the Project has been forced to take immediate steps to reduce staff and services.

The last day of service for many Project staff will be July 31, 1995. The legal services community is losing the talent, dedication and decades of experience that these departing Project staff have unselfishly rendered on behalf of the client community we all serve. We will never forget them or the contributions they have made.

Effective August 1, 1995, the Oakland office will be reduced to the following staff: Manuel Romero, Director; David Bryson, Deputy Director; Jim Grow, Staff Attorney; Eleyette Worth, Finance and Administration; and Amy Siemens, Support Staff. Nancy Bernstine, Director of Governmental Relations, and a half-time Legislative/Office Assistant will remain in our Washington, D.C. office. We will also be hiring a full-time Director of Development in the near future.

In our next issue of the Housing Law Bulletin, we will describe the steps we are taking for addressing various support functions in light of reduced LSC funding.

For now, however, we want to highlight the fact that, effective August 1, 1995, we will have to severely limit the time available to respond to service requests. We will also no longer be able to handle all the subjects that we previously handled, nor will we be able to respond to all incoming requests, and if we do respond, brief responses will be the norm.

Subject areas receiving priority will include public and HUD-assisted housing, fair housing and selected rural housing matters. Generally, we will be unable to respond to requests involving other areas. We request that advocates be selective about the requests they make, and we encourage consulting written resources, such as our housing manuals and the Housing Law Bulletin before calling. We will make every effort to return your call or fax a response as soon as possible.

The Project has developed a fundraising plan and will be working hard to further diversify its funding base so that we can continue to fight for the right of the poor to decent, safe and affordable housing. In the meantime, we ask for your patience, understanding and support as we all move through very difficult and painful times.

We look forward to working collaboratively with the entire legal services community in meeting the challenges ahead.

Sincerely,

Manuel A. Romero, Director