Programs
Housing
Safe, affordable housing is one of the backbones of a healthy community - yet out of reach for many Californians. PILP’s housing work is designed to support Californians in need of affordable housing.
Homelessness
California is home to more than half of all unhoused people, who are disproportionately people of color with many in unsafe conditions without access to basic necessities including food, shelter, and health care. PILP protects and advances the civil rights of unhoused people across the state.
Public Benefits
Those eligible for public benefits in California include chronically homeless people with disabilities, female-headed households, and lower income families with children that disproportionately identify as female and Black or Latina. PILP breaks down systemic barriers to the equitable disbursement of public benefits.
What We Do
PILP works to advance racial and economic justice for and with low income communities and communities of color by spearheading major public interest impact litigation and systemic advocacy in affordable housing, homelessness prevention, civil rights, and public benefits.
Our current priorities include work to:
- Increase and preserve affordable housing
- Fight displacement
- Eliminate discriminatory zoning
- Support unhoused people and communities
- Prevent homelessness
- Expand access to public benefits, income support, and supportive services
How We Work
As a statewide legal support center, PILP provides technical assistance, training, research, litigation, and advocacy support to public interest law programs and community based organizations on law and policy issues related to housing, public benefits, anti-displacement, community preservation, and civil rights to advance economic and racial justice across the state.
Our staff can assist your program in the following ways:
Consultation & Advice: We are available by phone or e-mail on a daily basis.
Technical Assistance: We assist with legal and policy analysis.
Training: We train local program attorneys and grassroots advocates in relevant areas of law and litigation.
Co-counsel & Advocacy: We assist local programs with major advocacy efforts, including legislative and administrative advocacy and co-counseling on impact cases in state and federal courts within our areas of specialization.
Advocates File Complaint Against Riverside Over Rejection of State Funding for Quality Inn Project
“Councilmembers opposed to this project repeatedly framed the proposed supportive housing project as inherently criminal, dangerous, and incompatible with the community – not based on objective evidence but based on generalizations about the people who would reside in the development,” said Ugochi Anaebere-Nicholson, PILP Staff Attorney. “Statements that equate homelessness and behavioral health disability with criminality and violence reflect the type of stigmatizing stereotypes that cannot lawfully form the basis for this decision.”
Learn MoreCoronado Tenants File Suit Against Corporate Landlords and City for Violating State Law and Displacing Residents
“When the building owners accepted public funding to rehabilitate their private property, they entered into a contract with the City to keep the housing affordable and follow the laws of the state. Both the City and the owners have fallen short in their duties here,” said Melody Osuna, Staff Attorney for the Public Interest Law Project.
Learn MoreLawsuit Challenging San Francisco’s General Relief Practices Moves Forward
The San Francisco Superior Court issued a strong ruling preserving core challenges to how San Francisco administers general relief cash assistance.
Learn MoreAdvocates File Complaint Against Riverside Over Rejection of State Funding for Quality Inn Project
“Councilmembers opposed to this project repeatedly framed the proposed supportive housing project as inherently criminal, dangerous, and incompatible with the community – not based on objective evidence but based on generalizations about the people who would reside in the development,” said Ugochi Anaebere-Nicholson, PILP Staff Attorney. “Statements that equate homelessness and behavioral health disability with criminality and violence reflect the type of stigmatizing stereotypes that cannot lawfully form the basis for this decision.”
Learn MoreCoronado Tenants File Suit Against Corporate Landlords and City for Violating State Law and Displacing Residents
“When the building owners accepted public funding to rehabilitate their private property, they entered into a contract with the City to keep the housing affordable and follow the laws of the state. Both the City and the owners have fallen short in their duties here,” said Melody Osuna, Staff Attorney for the Public Interest Law Project.
Learn MoreLawsuit Challenging San Francisco’s General Relief Practices Moves Forward
The San Francisco Superior Court issued a strong ruling preserving core challenges to how San Francisco administers general relief cash assistance.
Learn More
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