The International Institute in Los Angeles provides refugees, immigrants, and survivors of human trafficking with the skills, abilities, and resources they need to become self-sufficient and start a new life in Southern California. Through workshops, individual help, and easy-to-use computer programs, individuals can get the information and legal assistance they need. Your contribution will help provide access to justice for thousands of poor and low-income people who would otherwise have no one to turn to for help with their legal crises. The Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation (LAFLA) is devoted to ensuring equal access to justice throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
To achieve this goal, LAFLA employs staff, interns, and volunteers from a variety of backgrounds and levels of experience. On their website, you can find the latest news and stories about LAFLA's work to protect and promote the rights of the most underserved in the greater Los Angeles area. LAFLA is a non-profit law firm that provides legal services to people with limited English proficiency. They specialize in helping refugees, immigrants, and survivors of human trafficking adjust their status, navigate the immigration process, and keep their families together.
Additionally, they have a Torture Survivors Project that assists people who have been abused or subjected to extreme cruelty (regardless of where in the world it occurred). This includes survivors of domestic violence, victims of child abuse, and survivors of torture. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has developed and funded the Self-Help Legal Access Center (SHLAC) program. This program provides information and resources to litigants who represent themselves in court without the help of an attorney.
It is designed to level the playing field and ensure that everyone can access the judicial system. In addition to LAFLA's services, there are other community programs available in Los Angeles County that focus on immigrant and refugee services. For example, there is a Medicaid federal health insurance program available at different levels of coverage depending on income and state. There is also a Supplemental Nutrition Program for pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to 5 years old from families whose gross income is less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
The Los Angeles IRC has its roots in this community and can only succeed with the support of this community. To that end, they offer free or low-cost adult education programs offered in local school districts for people 18 and older. These classes include English as a second language, citizenship preparation classes, and several professional training programs. Additionally, there is a nutritious lunch and snack program during the summer months for children under 18 that is served in parks and libraries located within the geographical limits of an elementary, secondary, or secondary school.
Refugees may be placed in a city where they have family or friends, or where there is an established community that shares their language or culture. The Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship Program offers a complementary program that provides undergraduate students with significant practical training and experience working in non-profit organizations in the field of performing, film, media, or literary arts. As refugees arrive in Los Angeles to start a new life, they are the ones who need financial and vocational support the most. To that end, there is a federally funded cash assistance program for refugees without dependent children available for up to 8 months from the date of admission to the eligible country or from the date of the final grant of asylum.
Finally, there is a no-cost managed care program offered to low-income, uninsurable county residents at nonprofit clinics called “Community Partners”. This program provides access to healthcare services such as primary care visits, hospitalizations, mental health services, prescription drugs, laboratory tests, x-rays, immunizations, vision care services for children under 21 years old.
