Advocacy and Community Impact

In the statehouse, in front of state officials, and in the media, Vermont Legal Aid advocates on behalf of low-income people. Our goal is to addresses systemic and institutional problems that affect their lives every day.

• We testify before the legislature, administrative committees and boards about how laws or rules impact Vermonters.
• We advocate for new protections or the enforcement of those that already exist.
• We work to correct systemic problems that adversely affect vulnerable Vermonters.

See our statistics. Read about some of our advocacy work. And explore our recent media coverage.

Client stories

Each year we help thousands of Vermonters with civil legal problems. Get a more personal sense of the impact that Vermont Legal Aid has on these individuals. Visit our VLA Stories page to read client stories like this one.

Housing discrimination lawyers help Ashley get a home

After leaving an abusive boyfriend, Ashley couch-surfed for months with her infant daughter. She saw ads for apartments but when she inquired, one landlord always told her the units weren’t appropriate for young kids.

Ashley called VLA for help. We conducted an investigation. We found the landlord always dissuaded testers with young kids from renting an apartment.

We represented Ashley in a case against the landlord. The landlord settled and paid Ashley $6,000 in damages and had to do fair housing training. Ashley got a new apartment to begin a better life with her daughter.

To protect anonymity and confidentiality, some names and details in these stories have been changed.