Fiscal year 2021
- Last year, we had 23,808 new requests for help.*
- We represented 6,222 Vermonters.
- We provided vital legal information and referrals to 13,175 Vermonters.
- Our projects could not help the caller 3,791 times because we were unable to connect with the caller, they were not eligible for help under our grants, or they needed legal help in an area that we do not practice in.
* These figures include statistics from both Vermont Legal Aid and Legal Services Vermont (LSV), our statewide legal services partner.
Requests for help by legal category
| Category of client’s problem | Requests |
|---|---|
| Housing issues, evictions and foreclosure | 7,250 |
| Health care access | 3,919 |
| Individual rights and disability rights | 2,612 |
| Family issues, divorce and abuse | 2,600 |
| Government benefits problems | 1,589 |
| Consumer problems and debt | 994 |
| Employment issues and unemployment | 975 |
| Miscellaneous / other legal problems | 3,869 |
| Total | 23,808 |
Client stories
Visit our project pages to read client stories like this one. Get a more personal sense of the impact we have on Vermonters.
Advocacy keeps a senior in her home
Bea is a 76-year-old disabled woman who lives on just over $800 per month in Social Security benefits. She contacted Vermont Legal Aid after falling more than a year behind on her mortgage payments.
We determined that Bea was paying too much for property taxes because she did not know how to apply for an income-sensitive property tax credit. We got her help to file for the credit. It reduced her property taxes by thousands of dollars.
We also connected her with the Vermont Homeowner Assistance Program. This COVID-relief program paid her past-due mortgage payments of nearly $10,000. With our help, Bea avoided foreclosure and stayed in her home. The lender ultimately decided to write off Bea’s remaining mortgage debt of about $25,000. Bea now has long-term affordable housing.
Name(s) and some details have been changed to protect anonymity and confidentiality.
A sound investment
The Vermont Bar Foundation commissioned a study which found the state gets a return of $11 of every $1 put toward legal services. Read the findings.
