Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services evolved from the Neighborhood Legal Assistance Program. The NLAP began in 1967 and served as a homegrown organization dedicated to providing legal services to low-income citizens in the greater Charleston community. With private attorneys out of financial reach for such a large segment of our community, our organization provides free civil legal services to overcome the legal barriers, prevent injustice, and secure basic needs for those in our community who need it most. We aim to bridge the gap that separates low-income families from the benefits and protections of the justice system. We accomplish this by serving as a vital resource and referral agency to the low-income and at-risk citizens of Charleston County. Through our services including advice and counsel, brief preparation, direct representation, private bar involvement, outreach programming, and referrals to other service organizations, we serve a critical and challenging need in our community. As our organizational capacity has increased over the past several years, the methods of implementing our vision have expanded. Traditionally, our services focused on education through advice, counsel, and pleading preparation. Additionally, Charleston Pro Bono is successful in connecting qualified clients with local private attorneys willing to assist on a pro bono basis. Over the last several years, our capacity increased through the hiring of a full time attorney dedicated to housing law in 2017. This enables our office to provide direct representation to clients facing wrongful evictions, unlawful withholding of security deposits, and failure to repair essential services. Thanks to funding from the SC Bar Foundation, our office took a major step forward in the quality of services we were able to provide. In 2020, we added a team to assist with Covid-related legal issues and an attorney dedicated to providing services to victims of human trafficking. And, most recently, we added an attorney to coordinate and grow the Housing Court Pilot Project here in Charleston.
