Northwestern Legal Services

Goal: $3,000.00

Specific Need

Most of our government funding comes earmarked with specific spending goals for casework on various legal grant projects and initiatives that must be strictly adhered to.  Very little of our revenue is unrestricted.  We use our unrestricted funds for community outreach and education projects in all our service areas, which helps get the word out to more potential clients about the free legal services and legal assistance they may be eligible to receive.  We also use it for bolstering our public presence and fostering our relationships with the human services community and client community in the counties we serve.  The more people know who we are and what we do, the more people we can help.

Mission

Northwestern Legal Services assists low-income individuals and families by guiding them through the legal system using advocacy and education to obtain justice with the goal of improving quality of life and strengthening our communities.

Profile

Since 1969, Northwestern Legal Services has provided free legal services to low-income residents of the 10 northwestern Pennsylvania counties: Cameron, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, and Warren.  We have six (6) offices located throughout our service area in Erie (main office), Meadville, Bradford, Hermitage, Franklin, and Warren Pennsylvania.  

NWLS is a private non-profit organization that receives funding from federal, state, and local agencies as well as private donations.  We also administer grants for specialized legal services and regularly engage in community outreach activities.

Over half the NWLS staff is composed of attorneys and paralegals who provide direct representation and counsel, telephone advice, and brief services to our clients. To find out more about our organization, please visit www.nwls.org.