LCD’s clients are low-income individuals and families with disabilities who live in the Philadelphia region.
Clients by Gender
Female: 1,225 (70%)
Male: 478 (27%)
Unknown/Chose Not to Answer: 28 (2%)
Non-Binary: 6 (0%)
Transgender: 4 (0%)
Clients by Race/Ethnicity
Black (Not Hispanic): 997 (57%)
White (Not Hispanic): 239 (14%)
Chose Not to Answer/Other/Unknown: 198 (11%)
Hispanic: 213 (12%)
Multiracial: 72 (4%)
Asian or Pacific Islander: 18 (1%)
Native American: 7 (0.4%)
Clients by Age
Under 18: 29 (2%)
18-64: 1,534 (88%)
65+: 181 (10%)
Client Languages Spoken Other Than English
American Sign Language
Arabic
Cambodian
Creole
French
Mandarin
Polish
Punjabi
Russian
Spanish
Vietnamese
Client Stories
More than numbers, our clients’ stories shed light on who they are, the challenges they face, and how LCD’s services help them and their families.
Samantha's Story
Samantha is a young mom who came to LCD through the MLP at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where she met an LCD staff attorney at her toddler’s pediatrics appointment. Samantha disclosed that since 2021, her entire time living at her apartment, her family has not had heat, and the apartment had major structural issues.
The LCD attorney assisted Samantha in demanding repairs, calling the City’s Licensing and Inspections Department, and ultimately withholding her rent due to the terrible conditions in her home. Instead of making repairs, her landlord initiated the eviction process.
As soon as Samantha received the notice, the LCD attorney filed a complaint in the Fair Housing Commission against her landlord for retaliating against her. In landlord-tenant court, the LCD attorney reached a deal with the landlord’s attorney that allowed Samantha to leave without paying any money, saving her thousands of dollars, and giving her enough time to move. Samantha is now moving closer to her extended family and looks forward to the fresh start with her children.
Gary's Story
Gary reached out to LCD over email because he has advanced ALS and has lost the ability to speak. He uses a self-made text-to-speech technology on his phone to communicate, so an LCD paralegal met with him over Zoom to discuss his questions about Social Security. Through communicating with Gary, the paralegal learned that Gary was at immediate risk of eviction after missing only one month of rent due to loss of income.
Gary had been approved for SSDI, but Social Security was slow in awarding the benefits or the back pay. Gary had no way of contacting Social Security on his own, because he cannot leave his house easily to visit his local office, and the Social Security phone system is extremely inaccessible to people unable to speak.
LCD’s paralegal contacted Social Security with Gary, advocating for him and creating the conditions for him to be able to advocate for himself over the phone. By communicating consistently with Social Security and Gary’s bank over the course of several weeks, LCD facilitated the quick release of Gary’s $18,000 back payment, allowing him to pay his overdue rent and several months in advance.

Now hiring!
LCD is excited to announce our current open career opportunities! Director of Development Legal Director Paralegal...