2021 Annual Report

Posted on: August 31, 2022

We are pleased to present you the 2021 Southeast Louisiana Legal Services (SLLS) annual report. Every year, we reflect back on the difference our work makes in the daily lives of the people and communities we serve. The devastating impact of Hurricane Ida on our clients has made our work more important than ever. With lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina and the 10 presidentially declared disasters that followed, we hit the ground running providing critical legal aid in some of the hardest hit areas through community-based disaster legal clinics. To date we have helped over 4,000 people but the recovery process is far from over. Your support has made an incredible difference in making sure the most vulnerable people are not left behind in the recovery process. We are grateful for your leadership in the fight for fairness.
In 2021, SLLS delivered legal help in individual cases to over 14,000 households composed of over 31,000 people. The economic impact of our work topped $28.5 million. Every dollar invested in civil legal aid generated nearly $9.18 of social return on investment. Some results have no price tag, such as lives saved through our work with domestic violence victims or children protected from abuse. Thousands more Louisianans benefitted from our policy advocacy work fighting for equity such as in the rollout of COVID-19 and Hurricane Ida relief programs. Thousands of people obtained vital legal information from our SLLS website blog about hot topics like how to fight contractor fraud, appeal your FEMA claim, and other urgent recovery matters. Pro bono attorneys and volunteer law students helped us expand the availability of legal aid throughout our twenty-two parish service area.

On behalf of the clients we serve and the team at SLLS, thank you again for your staunch support. It means more now than ever. We hope this report is useful in helping you learn more about how your investment in justice is making an impact. For more frequent updates about our work, like us on Face Book. Or you can always call (504) 529-1000 ext. 270 or email me at ltuggle@slls.org to talk about our program. Thank you again for helping us help others.

Sincerely,

Laura Tuggle
Executive Director

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