PRESS RELEASES

Legal Aid Society’s 13th Annual Awards Luncheon A Success:
Keynote Speaker Judge Henderson Inspires
April 30, 2010 - Once more Legal Aid’s annual luncheon was an outstanding success. Thanks to a hard-working Lunch Committee led by Co-Chairs Ellen Winick Stross and Lori Lutzker, and Chair Emeritus George Corey, close to $300,000 was raised to help provide legal services to low-income people in need in San Mateo County.

Legal Aid Brings on New Board Members
March 12, 2010 - The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County proudly welcomes three new members to its Board of Directors: Mary H. Lin, an attorney with Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn, Stacey Keare, President of the Keare-Hodge Family Foundation and Jeffrey Hyman, Director in Apple, Inc.’s Legal Department.

HART Collaborative to Help Older with Disabilities
December 18, 2009 - Legal Aid staff attorney Chris Douglas is collaborating with other Daly City nonprofits and agencies on HART, the Healthy Aging Response Team. This project seeks to improve access to social, health and other services for isolated adults age 50 and older as well as those with disabilities. By training their peers to answer questions over the phone, Douglas and organizers hope that the target group is able to get help in their own community with just one phone call. The project was launched in January and will operate out of the Doelger Senior Center in Daly City.

Welcome to New Executive Director Lauren Zorfas
December 7, 2010 - Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County welcomes new Executive Director Lauren Zorfas, who will start on December 10, 2009. For the past seven years Ms. Zorfas has been the Supervising Attorney for the Family Law Facilitator’s Office and Self-Help Services at the San Mateo County Superior Court. She is a stalwart advocate for the legal rights of the underprivileged; in her position at the Court she expanded public services and built highly successful collaborative relationships with other organizations, agencies and community members.

THANK YOU Taproot Volunteers!
September 1, 2009 - Thanks to a grant from the Taproot Foundation, valued at over $35,000, Legal Aid launched a new website today. Our new site makes it easy to find information online for our clients, volunteers and supporters. Many heartfelt thanks to volunteers Anne Kappmeyer, Hank Harper, Margaret Greanias, Lydia Chan, Kim Mattan, Annie Cheng and Ragnar von Schiber from Taproot for all their hard work. Check out our new look and tell us what you think at info@legalaidsmc.org.

Homeless SMC Resident Fights for Her Rights - And Wins
December 8, 2008 - When Deirdre Miner, a disabled mother with three small children, learned this week that she won her case against the Social Security Administration and would be receiving over a year’s worth of past due benefits, she was elated.

San Mateo County's Unknown Victims of the Foreclosure Crisis
October 24, 2008 - A surprise visit from a real estate agent, a shut-off notice from PG&E, a Notice of Trustee Sale posted on the door: these are some of the ways that tenants discover that the home they live in is about to or already has gone into foreclosure.

Client Joins Class - Action Suit against Social Security after Losing Disability Benefits
October 16, 2008 - Rosa Martinez received a notice from the Social Security Administration informing her that she was losing her only source of income because of a 1980 arrest warrant for a drug offense in Miami, Florida. Never mind that Ms. Martinez had never been to Miami, never been arrested and never used illegal drugs.