In 2023, Legal Services of Northern California entered its 67th year of aggressive advocacy on behalf of low-income individuals and families in northern California. Incorporated as the Legal Aid Society of Sacramento County in 1956, the core program has grown to encompass 23 counties stretching from the perimeter of the San Francisco Bay region and up the North Pacific Coast on the west, to the Oregon border on the north, and to the Sierra Nevada range and the Nevada border on the east. LSNC serves a low-income population of over 500,000 people spread over a mixed urban and rural (mostly rural, outside of Sacramento and a handful of relatively small cities) area that encompasses 49,005 square miles, roughly the size of Ohio. We serve clients in four distinct economic regions where differing economic realities present strategic challenges to lifting families from poverty.
We serve a largely minority population from eight regional offices located in Vallejo, Woodland, Sacramento, Auburn, Chico, Redding, Eureka, and Ukiah. LSNC serves the second largest Hmong population and the largest Mien community in the United States. Our northern and coastal counties and the San Joaquin river delta are home to thousands of migrant farm workers who cultivate and harvest the tree and row crops, including wine grapes, that support California's agricultural industry. The north state is also home to a significant Native American population for whom our staff provides special outreach and services.
LSNC also operates large special projects under its corporate umbrella: The Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) (Medicare-related advocacy), the Western States Pension Assistance Project, the Shriver Civil Counsel Act Project (Represent low-income in eviction court in Yolo county), and the separately incorporated Capital Pro Bono (providing pro bono attorney support). Five of our offices, in partnership with local courts, operate "self-help" clinics for unrepresented litigants. LSNC's staff of over 120 is complemented by many volunteers.
As grant recipients of the federally funded Legal Services Corporation, we are required to notify you that all funds we receive may not be used in any manner inconsistent with the Legal Services Corporation Act of 1974, as amended in 1977 (42 U.S.C. §§ 2996 et. seq.), Section 509(h), P.L. 104-134, 110 Stat. 1321 (1996), its implementing regulations (45 C.F.R. § 1600 et seq.), and other relevant law.