| Dear Friends,
May is the official month of recognition for so many communities. Not only is it Jewish American Heritage Month and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, it is also the month we celebrate Older Americans!
Our Decades-Long Service for Older Americans:
The population of older individuals continues to increase, and they are living longer lives. Sadly, as this population grows, so does the incidence of food, housing, and health insecurity they face. For example, older individuals are the fastest growing population of unhoused individuals. Bet Tzedek is proud to be part of the effort to reverse this by providing free legal services specifically tailored to address the issues faced by older Angelenos.
- Bet Tzedek is a nationally recognized leader in providing legal assistance to low-income seniors. We are the only legal service provider in L.A. with programs that focus on protecting older or dependent adults and their families.
- A third of our clients are 60+ years old.
- In 2022, our “Safe and Savvy Seniors” educational series conducted 44 presentations that provided 1,885 older Angelenos with tips and tools to protect themselves from financial and physical abuse.
- Our services on behalf of older individuals includes elder abuse and fraud protection/prevention, advance planning and supported decision-making, conservatorships, healthcare (Medi-Cal & IHSS) and public benefits, guardianship of grandchildren and other minors, housing and income stability, and Holocaust survivor support.
- We provide various opportunities for individuals seeking to volunteer to help older community members, including the pro bono opportunity noted below. For further information on how you can join the effort, please contact Director of Pro Bono Programs, Sara Levine, at slevine@bettzedek.org.
- Learn more about our services for seniors here.
Our Roots and The Jewish American Community:
In 1974, a small group of Jewish attorneys, social workers, and activists came together to provide much needed legal assistance in the community. What began as a grassroots effort to support low-income Holocaust survivors and seniors in Fairfax District from illegal evictions, debt frauds, and denials of access to government resources has grown into what our organization is today: one of the country’s most premier public interest law firms.
- We named ourselves Bet Tzedek based on the Hebrew phrase “tzedek, tzedek, tirdof,” meaning “justice, justice you shall pursue,” a central tenet of the work we do. Through our network of attorneys and advocates, we provide free comprehensive legal services, education, and policy advocacy to low-income individuals and families across Los Angeles County.
- Numerous Jewish ideals guide our work, including the concept of never turning away a stranger from a strange land, which decades ago led our Board to reject federal funds that would have prohibited our organization from serving undocumented immigrants.
- We are one of only two major agencies in the nation to offer free legal services to aging Holocaust survivors.
- We help survivors secure Holocaust reparations and wrap-around legal services here in Los Angeles, and train pro bono volunteers across the U.S seeking to assist survivors through our Holocaust Survivors Justice Network (HSJN).
- Learn more about our mission and our services.
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Our Celebration of the AAPI Community
Bet Tzedek celebrates this incredibly diverse and culturally rich community, which includes 22 million individuals in this country tracing their roots to 50 ethnic groups from East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Pacific Islands. Remarkably, 6 million members of the AAPI community call California home, nearly a third of all Asians in the U.S. Whether originally from Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, or Pakistan, each AAPI demographic brings distinctive cultural enclaves, businesses, cuisine, health practices, customs, philosophies, religious institutions, and much more to the state and U.S.
Chinese American revolutionary, author, social activist, philanthropist, and feminist Grace Lee Boggs stated, “We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other.” As we shine a spotlight on this important and influential group, we must remember the unacceptable violence that has been inflicted upon the AAPI community in the last few years ranging from COVID-related hate crimes to, most recently, mass shootings in California. This May, we continue to stand in solidarity with these communities amid devastating loss. This Bet Tzedek Newsroom post addresses the shootings that occurred in January at Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, and provides resources for seeking help with mental health and safety.
Follow our social media accounts at the bottom of this page to learn about more inspiring figures this #AAPIHeritageMonth, from astronaut Kalpana Chawla to labor leader Larry Itliong to transgender activist Nisha Ayub. We are also sharing interesting facts, such as how AAPI Heritage Month began, why the model minority myth is harmful, the history of discrimination against the AAPI community including the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese Internment Camps, stats on Asian-owned businesses, and much more!
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Join Us at a Senior Center Outreach Event!
Bet Tzedek recognizes the importance of community and connection, especially for our aging population. A critical component of our work is our on-site presence at over 20 L.A.-area senior centers and other locations where there may be a large senior population. The goal of our community outreach efforts is to empower community members with information regarding their rights and directly connect them with free comprehensive legal services. We understand the importance of advocacy and representation for seniors and remain committed to improving the quality of life of older adults, dependent adults, and their caregivers and families. If you are an older community member, join us at one of the following senior center outreach events this May and June.
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For questions, contact agil@bettzedek.org.
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Pro Bono Opportunity: Help an Older Disabled and Widowed Mom Plan for Her Future
Ms. V is a 61-year-old widow. She has been legally blind since 2007, and her husband passed away in 2019. She has three adult children, two of whom live with her, and the youngest just turned 18. Ms. V bought her house in 1996, and she hopes to pass it down to her children. Ms. V lives on a fixed income of Social Security Disability and a small pension. She is hoping to get her affairs in order, including appointing her children as agents for health care and financial decisions should she need help in the future, as well as placing her home in a trust. When Ms. V’s mother passed away, the process of handling what she left behind was very hard and caused issues in her family, and Ms. V wants to make sure to leave her kids in a better position.
Note: While Ms. V is legally blind, she recently received an OrCam MyEye Pro reader which has given her the ability to read again. She is very easy to communicate with, has clear goals, and is prompt and responsive.
Work Required & Deadlines: Advice and counsel on estate planning matters.
Staffing: This case is best suited for an attorney with prior experience in estate planning.
If interested, contact Director of Pro Bono Programs, Sara Levine, at slevine@bettzedek.org.
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Join the Bet Tzedek Team!
Have a passion for helping underserved residents in the community? Want to work alongside dedicated staff and volunteers who help upwards of 100,000 people per year?
Here are some critical positions we need to fill, plus more (see button below):
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Help Us Improve the Lives of Up to 100,000 Underserved Angelenos Each Year
Since 1974, Bet Tzedek has provided free legal services to individuals and families who struggle each day with legal and social injustices that threaten their housing, their families’ wellbeing, their wages, and their benefits. Please join us in our mission to help!
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