Friends - today is Legal Aid of North Carolina's first Day of Giving. The Pembroke office covers Robeson, Hoke, and Scotland Counties - some of the most underserved and impoverished counties in North Carolina. Legal Aid's work is essential everywhere, but it is especially needed in our area.

In 2022, Legal Aid opened 471 cases and served 1,124 clients from the Pembroke office. The majority of these cases were based around rental housing, followed closely by domestic violence and family law. Almost 70% of these clients were either Black or Native American with the majority being women.

There is no constitutional right to a lawyer in civil legal matters. Civil legal services in the U.S. are massively underfunded, and low-income Americans carry the burden: over 92% of low-income Americans’ legal needs go unmet, especially with problems related to health care, housing conditions, disability access, veterans’ benefits, and domestic violence. As a result, people who cannot seek redress through the justice system often experience physical abuse, trafficking, homelessness, poor health, unemployment, and exploitation.

Your donation will help us meet the needs of our fellow citizens whose access to justice is impacted every day by poverty, geography, and systemic inequity.