Neighborhood Legal Services Website

Advocacy, Education, And Resources for Human Survival

NLSM offers one-of-a-kind services to promote health safety and self-sufficiency.

Established in response to the Economic Opportunity Act of 1966, NLSM charities have grown from a legal aid office in 1966 to resources for the human heart, soul, mind and body - now serving vulnerable individuals, fragile families, and gifted students in more than 60 schools and communities through the Child & Advocacy Institute. NLSM partners with multicultural public, private and non-profit partners to provide permanent interdisciplinary solutions to complex socio-economic challenges. Through Project Permanency, NLSM serves as the nation's only legal aid fiduciary to administer homeless continuum of care grants. NLSM is one of the first legal-based Victims of Crime Act programs in the nation.

NLSM is Metro Detroit's only organization of its kind offering non-criminal legal advocacy, law-related education and supportive services for individuals and families. Abused or homeless people, children, people with life-challenging illness, and seniors who qualify receive services free of charge. To break the cycle of homelessness, NLSM pays budget counselors and partnering agencies to provide counsel and case management services, childcare, and essential items for eligible families. NLSM also contracts with local agencies to assist victims of crime with emergency home security repairs. Founded in 1966, NLSM became of the nation's first civil legal services-based Victims of Crime Act in 1999.

Through justice initiatives, alliances, community education and preventive services, NLSM seeks to educate, protect, and strengthen the family. Target populations served by NLSM represent the promise of our communities and the future of humankind. NLSM welcomes tax-deductive charitable donations and planned, as well as named, gifts. Questions? E-mail jsekander@wcnls.org

NSLM is a regional business and non-profit collaborative coordinating Southeast Michigan community outreach and probono partnerships for advocacy, education, and resources of human survival. Donors and volunteers who support services to gifted and extraordinary students who have overcome significant adversity in life are recognized annually through the Children's Defense Fund Beat The Odds Program. Questions? E-mail jsekander@wcnls.org

NLSM Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board: James E. Brenner, Esq.
Vice-Chairperson: Carrie Gray, Esq.
Secretary: Sandra Peppers
Treasurer: Lillian Bullard
Parliamentarian: David K. Tillman, Esq.
Charles H. Brown, Esq.
Thomas G. Hardy, Esq.
Avis Holmes
Douglas Montgomery
Testimonie Tate
Soraya Kim, Esq.
Emeritus: Louise Stanton

Interim Executive Director: Leonard A. Sanchez, MBA

Celebrating 42 Years of Service to Fragile Families and Gifted Students 1966-2008
Southeast Michigan's Only Beat the Odds ® ™ Program Licensed by the Children's Defense Fund
Originally Founded as Detroit's Neighborhood Legal Services Program - Now Serving 60 Schools & Communities