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“There was just no money and nowhere to go.”

John is one of the 500+ housing clients ALRP helps each year. Last year, ALRP’s eviction defense team kept 149 households from becoming homeless, with a success rate of 85%. Having a lawyer makes all the difference for our clients—76% of whom are living on an annual income under $30,000.

“It has just made myself and my loved ones feel more relaxed.”

Roger was one of 145 clients for whom we drafted estate planning documents in 2025. When ALRP was founded in 1983, we were a team of volunteer attorneys drafting emergency wills for community members dying too soon of AIDS. Four decades later, we still believe that everyone deserves to have a say in their legacy and healthcare at the end of their lives.

"I know that I have rights, and no one’s going to step on them, because I have the AIDS Legal Referral Panel to back me up."

Catah is one of many long-term survivors who’ve been coming to ALRP since the 1990s. Over the years, we’ve represented him as he was facing eviction; provided legal advice as the ownership of his apartment building changed hands; supported him with hurdles to getting a government-issued ID; and made sure his access to Social Security Disability Insurance and Medi-Cal didn’t lapse throughout multiple difficult life changes.

"They were with me from beginning to end."

In June, our client Hian—for whom we had submitted an asylum application the previous November—was detained by ICE agents as he left immigration court with his ALRP legal team. Throughout July and August, we worked tirelessly to press Hian’s asylum case, restore his access to the correct medications, and get him released from detention. In September, he was finally granted asylum on the clear and strong merits of his case and released from custody, and we flew him home to San Francisco. In 2025, our immigration team experienced unprecedented demand, working with a total of 300 clients from 24 countries, a 59% increase over 2024.

"Being able to keep my home means the world to me."

Many of ALRP’s clients come to us during the most difficult moments of their lives. After Chris’s partner unexpectedly passed away, he struggled to pay rent, and his landlord moved to evict him. Thankfully, our housing team was able to help him stay in the home that he and his partner had shared for years.

Chris Watts passed away on December 29, 2025. He will be missed by all of us at ALRP and by his local Castro community.