CRLA 2013 Annual Report

CRLA provides a wide array of legal services that directly touch thousands of low-income
Californians and indirectly impact the lives of many more community members.
2013 IMPACT AT A GLANCE
2,903 2,224
Cases
Closed
Cases
Closed
Make our impact even greater, make a donation online www.crla.org
PRIORITY
AREAS
Housing
Labor &
Employment
Enforcing federal
and state fair housing
laws; monitoring low-
income community
redevelopment;
code enforcement
tenant evictions;
providing foreclosure
counseling; promoting
homeownership;
preventing predatory
lending.
Collecting unpaid
wages; enforcing
minimum wage
and overtime
laws; upholding
health and safety
protections; enforcing
workers rights
to rest and meal
periods; collecting
unemployment
insurance benets;
ghting sexual
harassment in
the workplace.
180
Cases
Closed
Education
Enforcing students
rights in areas of
special education
and suspensions/
expulsions; guaran-
teeing access to a
free and appropriate
public education;
monitoring migrant
education programs
and alternative
school placements.
1,806
Cases
Closed
Rural Health
Securing public
benets; supporting
victims of sexual
assault and intimate
partner violence;
maintaining health
insurance, disability
and SSI coverage;
guaranteeing access
to clean water and
preventing pesticide
poisoning; assisting
with ACA applications
and needs.
1,132

People
Leadership
Development
Conducting training
for low-income
individuals through the
use of an innovative
leadership development
curriculum; promoting
leadership and civic
engagement to advance
effective self-advocacy
in rural communities.
1 ANNUAL REPORT 2013 1 ANNUAL REPORT 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Rural LGBT Students Given Hope Through Training and Education 2
CRLA Foreclosure Prevention Assistance 4
From the Fields to the State Capitol 6
Medi-Cal Assistance for Dire Need 8
CRLA & Parents Fight for a Voice in Californias Education System 9
Excluded from Federal Standards, California Home Aides Have Their Day in Court 10
Meet Our New Deputy Directors 13
CRLAs Director Receives Two Distinguished Awards 14
CRLA Forces Negligent County to Comply with State Law 16
CRLAs Finest Featured in UC Hastings Magazine Profile 17
Indigenous Program Celebrates 20 Years of Service 18
2013 CRLA Donors 20
Nine Year Struggle Resolved 27
CRLAs Education Work Engages Juvenile Courts and Rescues Vulnerable Youth 28
Voices From a Zocalos Public Square 30
What Motivates Kemnitzer, Barron & Kriegs Support for CRLA? 33
Dangerous Substandard Housing Pescadero, California 34
Financials 35
2014 Board of Directors and Staff 36
Our Mission
To ght for justice
and individual rights
alongside the most
exploited communities
of our society.
Our Vision of Justice
A rural California where
all people are treated
with dignity and respect
and guaranteed their
fundamental rights.
In a school library, a church basement or a college
cafeteria, rural parents of LGBT students learn how to
help their children. One parent describes her relationship
with her transgender child. Another parent talks about
the cruel teasing his child experiences daily in the
classroom. One other parent asks what to do when your
child feels too scared to go to school.
CRLA addresses these
problems and many more
by using our legal services to ght for LGBT
student rights. Established in 2007, our LGBT
program has touched the lives of hundreds of
rural Californians. CRLA works to change the
culture of rural places by providing a safe
and more welcoming environment for rural
LGBT residents.
Leadership
CRLAs Rural Safe
School Summits
also develop
young leaders.
The Summits
provide youth-
appropriate
content to
expand their
understanding
of the legal
protections
available for
LGBTQ youth
who want to
address bullying,
2
Rural LGBT Students Given Hope
Through Training and Education
CRLAs Rural
Safe School
Summits develop
young leaders.
The Summits
expand the
leaders
understanding
of the legal
protections
available to
LGBTQ youth
who want to
address bullying.
CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE, INC.
The LGBT program focuses on helping
rural schools develop more inclusive
environments, which leads to a better school
community for all students. CRLA works with
students and parents to require schools and
school districts to comply with the law and
to give all students a chance to receive the
best education possible.
This program developed and designed
a daylong conference called Rural Safe
School Summits, for parents, teachers,
students and community members
interested in preventing bullying and
harassment of LGBT students. In 2013,
CRLA held six Summits at schools or
community partner locations throughout
rural California. These forums provided
local residents with answers to their
questions about anti-gay bullying and
school safety. Participants mixed learning
about the legal rights of school-age
children with gaining knowledge about
local resources to create a community
of empowered parents who support
their LGBT or LGBT-perceived child. The
dialogue and conversation raised awareness
about the problem of school push-out of
LGBT students. Young people stay in school
because informed parents and youth know
their rights with regard to bullying, school
discipline and truancy. CRLA believes if
we empower parents with knowledge and
bring them together with other parents,
they will become advocates for change in
multiple ways, extending beyond just the
educational and legal systems. We see this
happen as parents become more condent
in their ability to help their children.
CRLAs Rural Safe School Summits also
developed young leaders. The Summits
expanded the leaders understanding of the
legal protections available to LGBTQ youth
who want to address bullying.
Most summits occur entirely in Spanish, with
simultaneous translation for the few English
speakers in the room. Families often attend
to nd help when their child is subjected to
anti-gay bullying at school. Their powerful
stories illustrate the need for CRLAs work
and provide a real life example for Summit
participants to strategize solutions to keeping
children safe at school.
CRLA works with many city, county and state
agencies (health, safety, housing, mental
health, school districts, district attorneys,
ofces of Migrant Education, probation and
youth probation) in the following counties:
San Joaquin, Fresno, Imperial, Yuba, Sutter,
Stanislaus, Monterey, Tulare, San Luis Obispo
and Ventura. We developed on-going
partnerships with the National Center for
Lesbian Rights, the Gay-Straight Alliance
Network and with various chapters of Parents,
Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
(PFLAG). We recently partnered with new
and emerging LGBT centers: the San Joaquin
Pride Center, in Stockton, the Bakerseld Gay
and Lesbian Center, and the newly-emerging
LGBT Center in Merced. n
3 ANNUAL REPORT 2013
CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE, INC. 4
The recent
foreclosure crisis
hit our client
communities
extremely hard,
inundating our
ofces with
requests for
assistance.
Through CRLAs
foreclosure work,
we have saved our
clients $5 million
and helped 785
families stay in
their homes.
Housing
CRLA Foreclosure Prevention Assistance
Rural communities face the challenge of
maintaining safe and secure housing.
CRLA addresses this challenge through the Rural Foreclosure
Assistance Project (RFAP), with a grant funded by the
California Attorney General out of the National Mortgage
Settlement Fund, and the Lending Discrimination Compo-
nent (LDC) of the Fair Housing Initiative, funded by HUD.
Both RFAP and the LDC target low-income, rural communities
of color in some of Californias hardest hit counties including
the Central Coast and Central Valley. Staff focus on
consumers with limited English prociency and low-wage
workers, including farmworkers.
By combining legal services with mapping research and
housing counseling, CRLA enforces compliance with the
Homeowner Bill of Rights and the terms of the national
settlement. CRLA assists low-income consumers affected
by foreclosure, while also studying lending and home
ownership trends among rural consumers throughout
the state.
ANNUAL REPORT 2013
Suzanna Prior, a grandmother
raising her grandson in her
family home, had a mortgage
with interest-only payments for
three years. When the payments
were about to rise, Ms. Prior
thought she might become
delinquent and sought the banks
help to secure a modication.
Frustrated by their lack of
cooperation and afraid she was
about to lose her home, she
reached out to the CRLA ofce
in Santa Maria. Five months
later, with CRLAs help, she
received her modication, which
reduced her mortgage payment
from $1,876.75 to $781.92 per
month, included a principal
reduction of $100,000.00, and
lowered her interest rate to 2%
for the remainder of the loan.
Happily, she told her grandson
they werent moving and he
could continue to attend the
neighborhood school and play
on his beloved baseball team.
Pedro Paez rst experienced
nancial problems when his
employer reduced his work
hours. Then he fell ill from a
life-threatening disease. As soon
as the problem arose, Pedro
and his wife Amelia decided to
ask their lending bank for help.
When the bank did not respond
to their modication request,
they sought help at CRLAs
Santa Maria ofce. Because
the Paez family cares for their
elderly parents and grand children
in their home, it was important
to remain in this home to
keep the family together.
CRLAs advocacy resulted in a
successful modication for the
Paez family. The modication
offered a reduction of their
monthly mortgage payment of
$600.00 and a xed interest and
principal payment. This multi-
generational family can remain
in their home and continue to
care for each other.
Before his death, Bette Pritchetts
husband renanced the family
home, which had been in her
family for generations. After his
death, Ms. Pritchett reached out
to the bank to apply for a loan
modication. Since her name
didnt appear on the promissory
note, although it did on the
deed of trust, the bank wouldnt
provide her with any information
or offer her any assistance. For as
long as she could, Ms. Pritchett
continued to make the house
payments, selling off equipment
from her husbands towing
business. Two years passed and
they still wouldnt work with
her. Ms. Pritchett, a mother and
a grandmother, didnt want to
lose the family home built by
her grandfather. So she sought
assistance from CRLA. CRLA
successfully negotiated with the
bank to allow the modication,
which made her monthly
payments affordable and allowed
her to stay in her home.
When Cenovio Santos
wife became ill and
required surgery, he
stopped working to
care for her and their
three children. Without
earning any income,
Mr. Santos fell behind on
his mortgage payments
to his lender. Mr. Santos
had nowhere to turn
after receiving notice
that his home would
be sold, until he heard
about CRLAs Rural
Foreclosure Assistance
Project. CRLA staff
helped him successfully
apply to his lender for a
loan modication, which
reduced his monthly
mortgage payments
almost in half from $887.00
to $468.00. The Santos
family is once again
enjoying the tranquility
of their home.
5 2013
C
R
L
A
S

C
L
I
E
N
T
S

S
T
O
R
I
E
S
A true story about the role CRLAs
Indigenous Leadership Program
played in passing SB666, which
protects immigrant workers from
employer retaliation.
CRLAs Indigenous Leadership Program can now
take credit for protecting farmworkers and low-wage workers rights. Four
Program members delivered moving testimony at the State Capitol, which
helped pass Senate Bill 666.
The story began when California Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg,
sent CRLA a written request for information about, and assistance with,
protecting immigrant workers from threats of retaliation. Sen. Steinberg
expressed specic concern about employers reporting an employee to
immigration authorities for exercising his or her rights under labor laws.
CRLAs Rural Safe
School Summits
also develop
young leaders.
The Summits
provide youth-
appropriate
content to
expand their
understanding
of the legal
protections
available for
LGBTQ youth
who want to
address bullying,
6
The story began
when California
Senate President
Pro Tem Darrell
Steinberg, sent
CRLA a written
request for
information about,
and assistance
with, protecting
immigrant
workers from
threats of
retaliation.
Labor
From the Fields to the State Capitol
Antonio Martinez speaks at the hearing
Michael Marsh, CRLAs Salinas Directing
Attorney, responded to the Senators request
by accompanying members of the CRLA Sali-
nas Indigenous Comit and graduates of the
CRLA leadership training program, Frederico
Vasquez, Paulino Martinez, Antonio Martinez
and Juan Vasquez, to an April 2013 hearing
on SB 666 before the California State Senate
Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
When Antonio Martinez addressed the Com-
mittee, he introduced himself rst in Triqui, an
indigenous Mexican language, then in Span-
ish. He told the elected ofcials that many
workers know their rights are being violated,
but dont complain for fear of retaliation.
The three other Comit Members offered
their support for the bill, calling it, a step
in the right direction to prevent the abuse of
farmworkers and other low wage workers.
Univision television interviewed both Juan
Vasquez and Federico Vasquez.
Michael emphasized farmworker retaliation
and the chilling effect it has in the workplace
and on the industry. He also emphasized
the need to level the playing eld so honest
employers do not feel disadvantaged.
During the hearing, Republican Sen. Mark
Wyland asked several questions about the
Triqui people and language. He understood
the problem that retaliation against workers
can cause permitting some companies to
ignore certain rights and laws, and, thereby
undercutting law-abiding businesses.
The California Chamber of Commerce, the
only voice in opposition, presented their chief
concern to the Committee SB666 would
subject employers to claims of retaliation
simply for requesting and reviewing employee
information on USCIS Form I-9. (Federal law
requires an employer to request and review
an I-9 within 72 hours of employment.)
Sen. Steinberg offered to work with the
Chamber to address this concern. The
Chamber eventually dropped their opposition.
Seven days later, the group returned to
Sacramento to testify in favor of SB666 before
the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On the long drive back to Salinas, the four
men focused on two highlights: meeting
Governor Jerry Brown and equally
important listening to former CRLA
Directing Attorney, Sen. Bill Monning thank
them in Spanish for their efforts. At rst, the
men appeared shocked to hear him speak
Spanish during the hearing. Then when he
thanked them for harvesting the food we eat
and for sacricing and taking risks to make it
to the Capitol to testify on the bill, they felt
humbled. Several times on the way home
they commented on how reafrming it
felt to hear Sen. Monnings kind words in
Spanish...and how they couldnt wait to
tell their wives and kids.
When Senate staffers called Michael to tell
him the bill passed with bipartisan support
(seven to one, with two Republicans voting
in favor), they said our farmworker clients
strong statements made the difference.
Speaking truth to power once again created
systemic change!
Governor Jerry Brown signed SB666 into law
on October 7, 2013, and it came into effect
January 1, 2014. n
In the photo from left to right are: Margie Estrada (legal aid to Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg), Juan
Vasquez, Senator Bill Monning, Antonio Martinez, Michael Marsh, Paulino Martinez, Senator Steinberg, Federico
Vasquez, and Governor Jerry Brown.
8 CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE, INC.
In 2012, 76-year-old Gabriel Medina, Jr. moved from
California, where his wife resided, to Texas to live in an
extended care facility near his children. When he received
extremely poor medical treatment, he contacted his wife to
ask for help. Ms. Medina worked quickly to move her husband
back home. After an exhausting journey, Mr. Medina went to
an emergency room in California to remove his stomach tube.
The emergency room staff referred Mr. Medina to an
El Centro doctor, who refused to remove the tube because
Mr. Medina couldnt afford to pay for the procedure.
Mr. Medina also wasnt enrolled in a California medical
assistance plan. The Medinas scrambled to nd help at the
Imperial County Department of Social Services (ICDSS) and
through other government agencies without success. Eventu-
ally, they arranged for Mr. Medina to receive Medi-Cal cov-
erage, but he needed to wait 30 days to establish California
residency. Mr. Medinas treatment couldnt wait. The stom-
ach tube had developed into a signicant health concern.
Desperately looking for answers, the Medinas came to
CRLAs El Centro ofce. Gabriel came into our ofce
exhausted from both his medical issues and unsuccessfully
navigating the California healthcare system, said Veronica
Tamayo, a CRLA El Centro Community Worker. He didnt
have 30 days to wait for his benets to kick-in. Our ofce
needed to help this man right away.
Veronica contacted the program
manager at ICDSS and success-
fully scheduled an interview for
Mr. Medina a few days later. After
the interview, Mr. Medina imme-
diately received Medi-Cal. He had
the stomach tube removed and
he receives proper ongoing care.
CRLA also helped Mr. Medina
enroll in a Medicare Part D plan for
prescription medications to keep
him on a path to wellness.
We are very grateful to Veronica and CRLA, said
Mr. Medina. We dont know what we would have done.
Now, with their help, we can move forward.
Our El Centro ofce has worked with hundreds of clients
like Mr. Medina. In 2006, CRLA joined the Health Consumer
Alliance, a healthcare advocacy program funded by
the California Department of Managed Health and the
California Endowment. Our Health Consumer Center work
contributes to CRLAs commitment to Rural Health. CRLA
continues to prioritize Rural Health and helping guide
people through the new Affordable Care Act. To date,
heroes like Veronica and the El Centro staff have saved
clients $2,762,748 in immediate remedies. n
Rural Health
Medi-Cal Assistance for Dire Need
Our El Centro
Health Consumer
Center helped
a 76 year-old,
Spanish-speaking
man enroll in
Medi-Cal, enabling
him to access
coverage for an
urgent medical
procedure.
Gabriel Medina, Jr. received
an urgent medical procedure
to remove a stomach tube
after CRLA staff in El Centro
helped him enroll in Medi-Cal.
Veronica Tamayo, CRLA
El Centro Community
Worker, stands with
Gabriel Medina, Jr.
(left to right) Maria Elena Hernandez, Daniel Sanchez, Maria Torres,
Franchesca Gonzalez (CRLA), Virginia Hernandez, Julio Mora,
Maria Teresa Herrera, Melvy Hernandez, Cynthia Rice (CRLA),
Felicia Espinoza (CRLA), & Maria Sanchez
On September 3, 2013, CRLA leaders from across the state
drove from Southern California and the Central Valley to
Sacramento with migrant farmworker parents and community
members to help them prepare their testimonies for a
public hearing.
These dedicated parents and community members drove
four to six hours to get to the Sacramento hearing to advo-
cate for changes to the State Parent Advisory Committee
(SPAC) regulations and protocols. Many other parents want-
ed to comment and attend but were unable to leave work
and travel such a long distance, said Franchesca Gonzalez,
Director of CRLAs Rural Education Equity Program.
The parents and community members who serve on
the SPAC or on their Regional Parent Advisory Committee
(RAC) testied that their Committees have been omitted
from the decision and regulation-making process.
The parents asked Superintendent Torlakson and the
Board to expand and better facilitate parent involvement
with migrant childrens education, said Cynthia Rice, CRLA
Director of Litigation, Advocacy & Training.
They argued against the provisions imposed by the Board of
Education, which limited, rather than promoted, parent par-
ticipation through: term limits, poor meeting location choices,
limited meeting time and the requirement that requests for
interpretation occur two weeks prior to any meeting.
The California Department of Education (CDE) scheduled
only one hearing on this topic, in Sacramento, at 9:00 a.m. on
a weekday. The parents urged CDE to host hearings about
the regulations at other locations around the state where
farmworker families live, work and send their children to
school. Each witness urged the CDE to start over and issue
new regulations.
CRLA staff members asked Superintendent Tom Torlakson
to return to the drawing board and develop regulations
allowing the SPAC & RAC to do their jobs, as described
in the state Migrant Education Act: participate in the
planning, operation and evaluation of the state migrant
education program. n
Education Leadership
UPDATE
The California
Department of
Education (CDE) has
not taken any action
on the regulations
since the parents gave
their testimony. The
CDE must respond
to all of the parents
comments and criti-
cism before adopting
the regulations as
proposed. They may
also send a notice
amending some or
all of the proposed
regulations, which will
start a new comment
period. They must
take some action by
September 24, 2014
or they will have to
begin the process all
over again.
CRLA & Parents Fight for a Voice
in Californias Education System
Demand for home healthcare is
growing, but a legal loophole means
that many home care workers are not
receiving adequate pay.
When you dont know who your boss is, whose fault is it
when your paycheck never comes? A California court has
just provided an answer to that predicament by allowing
a worker to take the county government to court in a
wage dispute.
Labor
CRLAs Rural Safe
School Summits
also develop
young leaders.
The Summits
provide youth-
appropriate
content to
expand their
understanding
of the legal
protections
available for
LGBTQ youth
who want to
address bullying,
10
Excluded from Federal Standards,
California Home Aides Have Their Day in Court
Used with
permission from
www.inthesetimes.com
piece originally
published Thursday,
June 20, 2013
By Michelle Chen
Adelina Guerrero, an aide with Sonoma Countys In-Home
Supportive Services (IHSS) program, was hired in 2008 to
work seven days a week in the home of Alejandra Buenrostro,
providing various personal care and housekeeping duties that
Buenrostro required as a person with a disability. According
to the suit, from early November through the end of January,
Guerrero logged about 500 regular hours, plus nearly 90
hours of overtimebut never received a paycheck.
When Guerrero sought to recover her alleged lost wages
in court, the county ducked responsibility, claiming that
because the money for home care is not
paid directly to the worker but to the
beneciary, the county government was not
technically her boss. By the same token,
the county said that it was not legally
responsible for complying with federal or
state minimum wage and overtime laws.
The suit charges that Buenrostro had been
quietly submitting Guerreros time sheets
to the county and collecting her paychecks,
which totaled more than $10,000, accord-
ing to SF Gate. Guerrero is seeking $20,000
in damages.
Guerreros wage claim is still unresolved, but
the California Supreme Court ruled that she
can take the county to court. A jury will ulti-
mately decide her case, based on whether her
role in providing services through the countys
Medicaid-funded IHSS Program means that
the county can be considered her joint em-
ployer and responsible for her back pay.
Jeffery Hoffman, an attorney in the case with
California Rural Legal Assistance, tells ITT
via email that to make the determination
as to whether someone is an employer
under federal law, the court considers
various circumstances, including whether the
agency has the power to hire or re and
supervision and control over the employee
schedules or conditions of employment.
Hoffman argues that under the IHSS
program, while the County and IHSS
Public Authority did not have the exclusive
authority to hire and re providers, they have
substantial power over the employment
relationship by virtue of their control of the
purse strings (i.e. payroll) and their control
over the type of system they implemented to
deliver IHSS program services.
The ruling against the county not only allows
Guerreros suit to move forward, but could
also determine the legal rights of an IHSS
workforce of about 356,000, which serves
448,000 beneciaries in California. The
program is targeted toward low-income
people who are elderly or with disabilities,
and may often be the only basis for them
to live independently in their communities.
The decisionwhich could also affect other
states Medicaid programs for in-home care
essentially leaves it to a jury to determine
the exact nature of the employer-employee
relationship and what the county owes
Guerrero for the theft of her wages.
Guerreros job and her claims of workplace
injustice reect the complex realities of a
growing sector of the healthcare systema
multifaceted chain of employment that
paid her wages from public funds but had
her working in a private home. Like all
domestic workers, home care workers--who
do everything from administering medicines
to bathing patients to providing social and
emotional support for homebound elderly-
-have highly personalized, stressful and
often precarious jobs. Their shifts can easily
stretch 12 hours or more, and in the cruelest
cases, workers can see their wages stolen or
overtime go unpaid.
In the booming home healthcare sector, (in
which demand is expected to grow by 69
percent between 2010 and 2020), workers
face particular barriers woven into federal
labor law. In general, they are technically
considered companions under the Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Whereas
other types of domestic work are covered
by minimum wage laws, home healthcare
workers remain bogged down by heavily
gendered notions that their work does not
involve skills that would warrant a decent
wage and protections from abuse. In the
absence of a federal base wage of $7.25
per hour, these workers rights are generally
contingent on state laws; currently they qualify
for minimum wage in 21 states and the District
of Columbia, some of which are higher than
the federal minimum.
Groups like the National Domestic Workers
Alliance (NDWA) have petitioned the
Department of Labor to change the FLSA
rules to extend protections to home health
aides, and the Obama administration
proposed a rule change in 2011, but has
not moved forward with reviewing and
implementing it.
Labor advocates say that as the need for
home-based health services soars, and more
families opt for community-based, in-home
services rather than institutions like nursing
homes, overhauling the companionship
exemption would be a long-overdue upgrade
of rules written when in-home care was seen
merely as friendly help, not a profession
involving a complex set of medical skills
and services. (Likewise, the law did not
contemplate that this job would become the
career of more than one million workers, many
of them women, immigrants, and household
breadwinners).
In a testimony for the NDWAs Caring Across
Generations Campaign, Nancy Salazar, a
home aide from the Bronx, explained how her
job demands seless devotion, yet doesnt
support her with a livable wage:
Im okay with the hours, Im not okay with the
wages. Im not okay with the pay. This is a
caring job. This is something that you really
have to love to do it. Because youre going
into someones home, and youre trying for
them to get used to you. To like you, to trust
you. You care about this person youre taking
care of.
The proposed reforms face stiff resistance
from industry lobbyists, who contend that
wages are already sufciently high and that
additional regulation would only push up
the cost of care. But employers tend to
ignore the cost society pays when workers
who provide vital health services cant earn a
living wage. Though Guerrero may soon get
her day in court, many of her fellow workers
are stuck in a business of providing priceless
services in our homes, while being denied
justice in their workplaces. n
Marcela Ruiz Deputy Director
CRLA attorney Marcela Ruiz began her advocacy career organizing hotel
workers with HERE, Local 6, in New York. She also co-founded Casa Mxico
in New York, a non-prot community center providing services and leading
advocacy efforts for undocumented Mexican workers.
Marcela, a Columbia University graduate, returned to her home state of
California where she received her law degree from Berkeley Law School.
In 2006, she joined CRLA as a Berkeley Law
Foundation Fellow and launched the Low-Wage
Workers Project in CRLAs Stockton ofce, which
established wage and hour clinics for low-wage
workers in San Joaquin County and expanded basic
services and representation of non-agricultural
workers. In 2009, she became the Stockton ofces
Directing Attorney.
In 2011, she became a CRLA Regional Director,
overseeing the Modesto and Stockton ofces.
I am honored to serve CRLA and provide leadership to our 23 eld ofces.
I was born and raised in Stockton, where my parents live and where I have
chosen to raise my children. My profound connection to this rural community
makes my work at CRLA personal, said Marcela. CRLAs clients are my
neighbors, my friends and, at the end of the day, my family. I have a vested
interest in improving conditions for my community and avoiding the
perpetuation of inequality. I am thrilled to carry out CRLAs strategic vision
for years to come, working in concert with our amazing staff.
As Deputy Director, Marcela oversees organizational policies and compliance
issues, strategic planning and CRLAs individual giving efforts.
Dan Torres Deputy Director of New Initiatives and Programs
Dan Torres, has fought for justice his whole life.
Prior to joining CRLA in 2010, Dan worked at the Immigrant Legal Resource
Center where he directed immigrant rights campaigns and projects, conducted
community and legal education programs and provided technical assistance to
legal services and pro bono attorneys. He represented clients as a staff attorney
at the CRLA Foundation in Sacramento, worked as a Clinical Instructor at the
UC Davis School of Law Immigration Law Clinic and
served as a staff attorney for the United States Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
As CRLAs LGBT Program director based in the
Stockton ofce, Dan grew the Program, in four short
years, from a regional farmworker program, into a
statewide initiative with national recognition for its
civil rights advocacy on behalf of low-income LGBT
people. His work with CRLAs U-Visa program has
helped many immigrant crime victims remain with
their families and loved ones in the United States and
access survivor services.
On January 1, 2014, Dan accepted the position of CRLAs Deputy Director of
New Initiatives and Programs where he will oversee all programmatic work
including the Indigenous Program, the Community Equity Initiative, the
LGBT Program and the Education Initiative. Dan also oversees institutional
giving efforts.
Im really excited to serve as the Deputy Director of New Initiatives and
Programs. This is not just a new role for me but a new position for CRLA,
said Dan an alumnus of the University of Washington and the UC Davis School
of Law. I am excited about growing our programs and educating our donors
about the staffs innovative and successful advocacy efforts.
Leadership
Meet Our New Deputy Directors
I began my legal career more
than 35 years ago; inspired by
some of the very individuals with
whom I now share this honor.
I am grateful and thank MALDEF
& ELC for honoring CRLAs work.
This tremendous honor is such a humbling
experience and a highlight in my career as a social
justice advocate. I am honored to accept awards
like this one because I know that its the work of
CRLA and our amazing staff that inspires such
accolades. Everyone I work with at CRLA, every
client we represent, every donor supporting our
cause, they deserve this recognition.
Mathew O. Tobriner Public Service Award presented at
the 97th Legal Aid Society Employment Law Centers
(ELC) Anniversary Luncheon
Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund
(MALDEF) distinguished Lifetime Achievement, Excellence
in Legal Service Award presented at the 2013 MALDEF
Los Angeles Awards Gala.
Leadership
CRLAs Director Receives Two Distinguished Awards
Jos R. Padilla was born and raised in the Imperial
Valley by parents who came from farmworker families.
When he received his BA from Stanford University in
1974, many Latino students felt the social obligation
to give back to the communities that raised them.
By deciding to serve his community through legal
advocacy, Mr. Padilla attended Boalt Hall School of
Law, U.C. Berkeley. After graduation in 1978, he started
what has become a 35-year legal career with California
Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) Inc., advocating for the
rights of Californias farmworker and rural poverty
communities. He has been married for 30 years to
Deborah Escobedo, a youth law attorney in
San Francisco. In 2005, he received an Honorary
Doctorate in Humane Letters from Chapman University.
Mr. Padilla co-drafted AB 1382, Californias
Migrant Education law, which addressed
the states migrant childrens special
educational needs. He also helped
to form a low-income credit union, a
bilingual community radio station (Radio
Sin Fronteras) and an immigration center
assisting Central American refugees with
political asylum applications. During his
tenure, CRLA has seen its service population
grow to nearly 30,000 people annually,
while also pursuing impact litigation and
developing critically important special
projects for farmworkers, Indigenous
communities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual &
transgender communities.
He serves as the Vice-Chair of the Poverty
& Race Research Action Council and on the
National Legal Aid & Defender Association
Board of Directors, where he served as Board
Chair in 2008.
Mr. Padilla testied before President
Clintons Commission on Race, the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights and various
legislative bodies addressing voting and
language rights issues. He received the
San Francisco Minority Bar Coalitions
Award of Excellence, the California La
Raza Lawyers Associations Cruz Reynoso
Community Service Award and, in 2000,
Stanford selected him for their Alumni
Multicultural Hall of Fame. In 2001, the
Stanford Haas Center for Public Service
selected him as a Visiting Mentor and he
delivered the Sixteenth Annual Ernesto
Galarza Stanford Commemorative Lecture.
In 2001 and 2007, the LA/SF Daily Journal
named him one of the 100 Inuential
Lawyers in California. Mr. Padilla
testied before Congress (March 2004) to
defend CRLAs controversial advocacy.
Hispanic Business Magazine (October
2006) named him one of the 100 Most
Inuential Hispanics in the United States.
The Mexican government awarded
him the prestigious Ohtli Award at the
2003 Hispanic National Bar Conference
(September 2003) for his services to
Mexican citizens in the United States.
In 2011, the California Latino Legislative
Caucus submitted Mr. Padillas name to
Governor Brown as a potential California
Supreme Court Nominee. n
I am humbled to join individuals like
Dr. Mario G. Obledo, Ralph Abascal
and Silvia R. Argueta who have also
received this award.
- Jos R. Padilla
Photos by Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center
Cynthia Rice, Blanca Bauelos, Hon. Cruz Reynoso,
Jos Padilla and Esmeralda Zendejas at the awards
presentation
Jos Padilla, Hon. Cruz Reynoso and Associate Justice
Miguel Mrquez
Hon. Cruz Reynoso presents Jos Padilla with an Award
In 2013, a homeless man living in San Benito County
called the Watsonville CRLA ofce seeking help obtaining
General Relief, a last-resort program for indigent adults
not qualifying for other public benets. California state law
requires every county to offer this assistance. When CRLA
attorneys Gretchen Regenhardt and Phyllis Katz investigated
his request, they discovered an egregious violation of
California law.
I was shocked to learn that the County didnt have a
General Relief Program in place, said Phyllis Katz, CRLA
Watsonville Staff Attorney. Its a basic safety net designed
to protect residents.
Working with our partner, Public Interest Law Project
(PILP), CRLA fought to reform and transform San Benito
Countys policies on General Relief. Our advocacy required
San Benito County to: 1) start providing General Relief to
eligible residents 2) seek input from CRLA and PILP about
their improved policies to accommodate applicants who
have disabilities and 3) increase the assistance amount to
the state mandated level.
We have a social safety net to help people who have
exhausted their options, said Gretchen Regenhardt,
CRLA Regional Director. San Benito broke the law by
denying help to those in need. CRLA will monitor the
Countys process to ensure that San Benito residents
arent left out in the cold.
On April 1, 2014, the Board of Supervisors formally
adopted General Assistance regulations for San Benito
County where more than 11% of the 58,884 County
residents live below the poverty line. n
Rural Health
CRLA Forces Negligent County
to Comply with State Law
Gretchen Regenhardt,
CRLA Regional Director
As a teenager growing up in Bakerseld, Elizabeth Aakhus
11 was determined to get as far away from the Central Valley
as possible. I knew that if I didnt work hard, I wouldnt get
out, she says. For the majority of her friends and classmates,
this was the case, and it was nearly the case for her. In her
senior year of high school, she was suspended; her offense
was talking back to a school police ofcer and refusing
to follow instructions. The way Aakhus sees it now, this
experience was the exception rather than the rule.
I got the suspension removed from my record because my
parents advocated for me, she says. That was when I saw
the gross disparities in how schools mete out punishment,
especially to people who do not have someone ghting for
them. This experience was a key factor in my decision to
become a public interest lawyer.
Aakhus enrolled in NYU and went on to UC Hastings, where
she took advantage of many hands-on opportunities. She
joined two student organizations that offered direct client
contact, the General Assistance Advocacy Project and
Homeless Legal Services, and enrolled in the Civil Justice
Clinic. In the clinic, I learned how to work one-on-one with
clients, she says, but more importantly, I learned how
challenging it can be for people to gain access to lawyers,
especially people who are living below the poverty line.
In 2011, she was awarded the Ralph Santiago Abascal
Fellowship, a year-long award given to a UC Hastings student
to pursue antipoverty and civil rights work. Aakhus joined the
Delano ofce of California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), an
organization dedicated to improving the lives of the states
rural poor, where she is now a staff attorney. She focused
her fellowship on education equity issues, specically on
the disproportionate impact that school discipline has on
students of color.
My challenge has been to make sure that parents and youth
know their rights, she says. Education is such an important
way to counteract the effects of poverty, and its gratifying to
help kids stay on track and have opportunities to advance. n
Update: Aakhus moved to CRLAs Fresno ofce in November 2013.
Staff Prole
CRLAs Finest Featured in
UC Hastings Magazine Prole
Photo and Story Courtesy of UC Hastings College of Law
Education is such
an important way
to counteract the
effects of poverty,
and its gratifying
to help kids stay
on track and have
opportunities
to advance.
Indigenous Program
CRLA, INC. 18
Indigenous Program Celebrates
20 Years of Service
CRLAs Indigenous Program provides legal advocacy and educational outreach and supports leadership development in
Californias rural indigenous communities. Most of Californias indigenous farmworkers come from rural areas in southern
Mexico, and their population has drastically increased over the past two decades. Today, approximately 1 in 4 farmworkers in
California is an indigenous Mexican. Many indigenous community members in California speak unique languages, including
Mixteco, Zapateco and Triqui. Rural indigenous farmworkers remain one of Californias most isolated, underserved,
underpaid, and exploited groups.
1988 Farmworker researcher Don Villarejo conducted a
study of indigenous people from the Mexican state of Oaxaca
working in California agriculture. The study provided the
rst look at this groups cultural and linguistic needs and the
obstacles they encounter attempting to co-exist in a largely
hostile culture.
1992 CRLA staff toured farm labor camps in San Quintin,
Baja California, in order to understand the living and working
conditions of indigenous Oaxacan farmworker immigrants.
1993 CRLA launched the Indigenous Farmworker Project
(now known as the Indigenous Program), hiring its rst two
indigenous-language-speaking community workers to improve
the organizations response to the unique needs of Californias
growing indigenous farmworker population.
1993 CRLA and co-counsel settled a federal lawsuit against
a grower who held Mixteco indigenous workers in virtual
enslavement at his Ventura County ower ranch. The grower
eventually pled guilty to federal criminal charges in a related
prosecution and agreed to pay $1.5 million in back wages to
approximately 300 former workers.
1998 The IP hired CRLAs rst indigenous woman to engage
in community outreach, expanding our ability to connect with
indigenous women who often experience greater cultural and
linguistic isolation than their male counterparts.
2002 CRLA secured safe, healthy housing for more than 250 Oaxacans
in Fresno County who lived next to and on top of a toxic waste dump. IP staff
and clients led a coalition of government and private partners that provided
cash pay-outs to the families and constructed a 32-unit housing development,
creating the largest indigenous Oaxacan homeowner community outside
of Mexico.
2004 In partnership with The California Endowment and California
Environmental Protection Agency, IP staff designed a toolkit to train
farmworkers in the prevention of pesticide poisoning.
2005 CRLA represented more than 80 Kern County residents in one of
the largest civil pesticide drift settlements for farmworkers in California history
($3.4 million). The IPs advocacy helped establish an improved Kern County
Emergency Response protocol requiring bilingual personnel and utilizing
greater inter-agency communication for pesticide incidents.
2013 CRLAs Salinas Indigenous Community Advisory Committee mem-
bers and graduates of the CRLA-designed leadership and civic participation
curriculum Tiene Algo Que Decir Do You Have Something to Say? testi-
ed in Triqui and Spanish before state lawmakers in Sacramento. They spoke
in support of bills to increase the minimum wage and to prohibit employers
from reporting workers to immigration authorities in retaliation for exercising
their rights. Both bills passed and were signed into law. According to senate
staffers, our clients statements proved instrumental in the bills success.
2000 IP staff rst participated in the U.S. Census Complete Count
Committee to ensure culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach to
indigenous communities. Staff later participated in Census 2010 to help
reverse the extreme undercount of Californias indigenous farmworkers.
2001 The IP and the University of California Labor Occupational Health
Program launched the Teen Agricultural Worker Program, providing students,
their parents, and their teachers with workplace health & safety and wage &
hour training in Spanish and indigenous languages.
2006 The IP hired its rst Triqui-speaking, indigenous community worker,
expanding outreach to one of the newest and fastest-growing segments of
the indigenous farmworker population.
2009 CRLA and researcher Rick Mines completed the Indigenous
Farmworker Study, a three-year effort to document the indigenous
populations size, distribution, language characteristics, and living and
working conditions. The study continues to provide important data for policy
makers, state and local agencies, and service providers. This study updated
the 1988 Villarejo Study.
2012 The IP investigated and successfully settled a housing discrimination
case on behalf of Mixteco farmworkers whose landlord forcibly removed them
from their homes after they requested permission to bring their spouses to live
with them. The case, which was settled for $137,500, provided extensive equita-
ble relief to prevent further discrimination on the basis of sex and family status.
$10,000 & Over
Fitzpatrick, Spini & Swanston
Santos & Michelle Gomez
Kazan, McClain, Abrams,
Fernandez, Lyons,
Greenwood, Oberman,
Satterly & Bosl
Linde Law Firm
Perez & Caballero APC
Marco Abarca, Ready
Foods, Inc.
Robins, Kaplan, Miller,
Ciresi L.L.P.
$5,000 to $9,999
Arnold & Porter
Bush Gottlieb Singer Lopez
Kohanski Adelstein &
Dickinson
Raul Cadena &
Kristin Churchill
Cameron and Jane Baird
Foundation
The David Bohnett Foundation
Kelly Dermody & Billie Mizell
Entravision Communications
Garcia Hernandez Sawhney &
Bermudez LLP
KXLA TV-44/KVMD LLC.
Lieff, Cabraser, Heiman
& Bernstein
Univision Television
Group, Inc.

$2,500 to $4,999
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer
& Feld LLP
Allred Maroko & Goldberg
Bingham McCutchen LLP
Enterprise Holdings Foundation
Francis Fernandez &
Carmen Flores
Harrington Group
Kaiser Permanente
John Keker
Dianna Lyons
Janet McGinnis
Morrison & Foerster
Munger Tolles & Olson LLP
OMelveny & Myers LLP
The Plant-Rao Family Plant
Public Welfare Foundation
Rucka, OBoyle, Lombardo
& McKenna
Schwab Charitable Fund
SF La Raza Lawyers Association
Shartsis Friese LLP
Gary & Carolyn Soto
$1,000 to $2,499
Denise Abrams & David
Harrington
Fred Altshuler & Julia Cheever
Vibiana Andrade
Andrade Gonzalez LLP
John Arango
Beeson, Tayer & Bodine
Blue Oak Foundation
Christine Brigagliano
& Morris Baller
Cartwright, Scruggs, Fulton
& Walther
Costello Risk Svcs. DBA
Farallone Pacic Insurance
Services
Albert & Laura Escobedo
Fidelity Charitable
Filice Insurance
James Gonzales, II
Arturo & Rosa Gonzalez
Goodin, MacBride, Squeri,
Day & Lamprey, LLP
Joseph Kohanski
Mary Geissler Lanzone
Gino Squadrito/Lasercom
Leonard Carder LLP
Jack Londen &
Kathleen Blamey
Lisa Maki
Carlos Malamud
Jos Padilla &
Deborah Escobedo
Camille Pannu
Enrique Ramirez
Irene Ramirez Luna
Regenhardt Family Trust
Hon. Cruz Reynoso
John Rodgers
Yvonne & Matt Rogers
Ramon Romero
Mario Rosas
Robert & Susan Sall
Susan Scott
Screen Actors Guild - American
Federation of Television &
Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)
Sheppard Mullin
Catherine Steele
Stein & Lubin
Szekely Family Foundation
The Walt Disney Company
Thendara Foundation
UBS - Matching Gifts Program
Union Bank of California
Marc Van Der Hout
$500 to $999
Michelle Anderson &
Sade Borghei
Adrian Andrade
Apple - Matching Gifts Program
Elena Asturias & Eduardo
Paniagua
Randal Barkan & Audrey Barris
Berman DeValerio
Maricela Bermudez
Maria Blanco
John & Leeann Boland
Juliet Brodie & Jane Schacter
Brad Caftel
Casa De Chocolates Inc.
Charles & Maria Claver
Marc Coleman
Courthouse News Service
Carlota & Ray Del Portillo
Julie Drake & Kim Tucker
2013 CRLA DONORS
Christopher Edley, Jr. &
Maria Echaveste
Margaret Elder
Robert Fabela
Patricia Fajardo
Robert Fries
Ron & Susan Gastelum
Shayna Glender
Debra Gonzales
Gloria & Oliver Green
Douglas & Beth Grijalva
Christopher Hamilton &
Donna J. DeDiemar
Carole Harper
Amanda Hawes
William Hoerger &
Ellen Lake
Jonathan Hirabayashi Design
Latina Designs by Pilar
A. Keith Lesar
Manufacturers Bank
Victor Marquez
Molly McClanahan &
Patricia Josephs
Craig & Cheryl McCollum
Monterey County Women
Lawyers Association
Mary Ann Munro &
Jon Turners
Emily Orfanos
Frank & Teresa Ramirez
Eduardo Rivas
Dorothy & Kevin Rivette
Carmen Romero
Hon. Alexander &
Judith Saldamando
Teresa Santiago & Franz Chavez
Michael Schoenleber
Shute Mihaly & Weinberger
Pete & Moni Silva
Leonard Simon &
Candace Carroll
State of California -
Department of Pesticides
Chris Strachwitz
Anthony & Lorraine Tahan
Olga Talamante
Hon. Mark Talamantes &
Karen Carrera
Sylvia & Al Torres
Gladdys Uribe & Ismael
Bautista Jr
Virginia Villegas &
Daniel Zurita
Wertheimer Foundation
$250 to $499
John Allen
Margarita Altamirano
Henry & Virginia Anderson
Anonymous Gifts
Alicia Armenta
Rocky Barilla &
Dolores Heisinger
Jeannie Barrett
Jed Borghei
Luz Buitrago
Victor Calderon
California Community
Foundation
Celeste Cantu
Ann Cerney
Diane Chin
Jeffrey Cummings
Direct Dental
Steve & Phyllis Dorsi
Carmen Estrada
Lynn & John Faris
Robert Farrace
Maxine Fasulis
Regina Feliciano
Laura Ferree
Anne Fletcher
Maria Gallo
Jeannette Garcia
Peter Gelblum
Google
Ken & Connie Graham
Kate Hallward
Olof Hellen
Mary Hernandez
Luz Herrera
Cathleen & John Hulse
Hon. Christy Keeny
Linda Kim & Brent VerWeyst
Tom Kirby
Mark Kleiman
La Palmita Land Development
Jeff & Nancy Levinson
Lewis, Feinberg, Lee,
Renaker & Jackson
Rudolph Loncke & Lilly Spitz
Miriam Lopez
Loretta Lynch & Jack Davis
Christine Masters &
Alan Ribakoff
Wally & Ruth Matranga
Christopher May &
Barbara McGraw
Hon. Carlos & Christine Moreno
Network for Good
Amy Newell
Alberto & Mariaelena Ochoa
Alicia Olivares
Tomas Olmos & Dolores Leal
Andrea & Robert Ordin
Micah Parzen
Norman & Beverly Pine
Alison Platt
Public Interest
Investigations, Inc
Michael & Lisa Rhodes
Cynthia Rice & Mark Shacht
Hon. Enrique Romero
Mario Reece Rosas
J. David Sackman
Jerry & Gloria Santillan
Mark & Lucia Savage
Diana Selig &
Meredith Rose
John Semion
Thomas & Susan Smegal
Valerie Sopher
Michael Stern &
Antonia Hernandez
Kimberly Stuart &
Morgan Hammon
Hon. Sergio Tapia &
Rosa Fregoso
Karen Topakian
John True III & Claudia Wilken
Kim Tucker
David Turner
United Way of the Wine Country
Angelina Valle
Moises Vazquez
Robert Cortez Webb
Tom & Susan Weisner
$100 to $249
American Endowment
Foundation
Nellie Andrade
Sean & Monica Andrade
Jesse Arnold
Rosemary Bacy
Maria Balderrama
Delete Morris Baller &
Chrisitn Brigagliano
Brancart & Brancart
Scott & Mavis Buginas
Christopher Cameron
Ricardo Cavallera
Maria Chacon
Lisa Cisneros
Coachella Valley Serving
People in Need
Carol Cole & David Bassing
Matt Coles
Fritz Conle
Consulate General
of Mexico
Desert Alliance for
Community Empowerment
Hon. Donal Donnelly
Pedro & Deborah Echeverria
Pierre Epstein
Richard Fajardo
Donald & Rosemary Farbstein
Dorothy Fernandez &
Lisa Stenmark
Robert Ferrier
Michael Flynn & Mary Viviano
Virginia Franco
Beatriz Garcia
Robert Garcia & Carmen Luna
Mike Gavaldon
Margo George &
Catherine Karrass
John Good & Janet Arnesty
Claudia Hevel
Ilaments Jewelry
Ronald Javor
Kim & Forest Jones
Charles Jones
Adrian Juarez
Marc Kasky & Catherine Carr
Maureen Keffer
Bruce & Candis Kerns
Kroger
Luis & Lee Lainer
Law Ofces of Fellom
and Solorio
Sherman & Alison Lewis
Arthur Liou & Tam Bui
Urbanie Lucero
Anne Mallory
Gary Meastas
Isa-Kae Meksin
Miguel & Gabriela Mendez
Martha & Michael Mendez
Thomas Mitchell
Ricardo & Maria Munoz
Aldolfo Murillo
Mike & Mary Murphy
Michael Nimkoff
Roberto & Mary Ellen Nunez
Susan Nunn
Steven Nutter
Nancy OBrien
Susan Olsen & Michael Keegan
John OToole & Jean Hom
Pedro Paez
Tele Ramirez
Eric Ratinoff
Jack Carson Revvill
Hyeon-Ju Rho
Ray & Diane Santana
Don & Dee Schilling
Gail Solo
Bill Tamayo & Deborah Lee
Reyes Topete
Eve Torres
United Way Bay Area
David & Teresa Valladolid
Cecillia Wang
Gene Weinstein
Hon. Jeff & Laura Winikow
Marcy Winograd
Carlos Zaragoza
Under $100
Ron Abraham
Tarik Adlai
American Friends Service
Committee
Angelo Ancheta
Bucky & Cathy Askew
Robert Atkins
Diana Bailon
Manuel Barrera
Benny Benavidez
Gene Bernardi
Iris Biblowitz & Frances Taylor
Charles Bird
Frank & Melissa Bloch
John Bond & Diana Hopkins
Steven & Karen Bovarnick
Guillermo Bravo
Louie Briones
Mary Ann Brownstein
Ray Buendia & Susie Opana
Berge & Alice Bulbulian
Silvino Campos
Angel Castillo
Katherine Castro
Eduardo Castro Jr.
Richard Ceballos
Darlene Ceremello &
Jessea Greenman
Jack Chin
Mariya Chisolm
2013 CRLA DONORS continued
Dario Cirillo
Carnzu Clark
Jack Colbourn
Crail-Johnson Foundation
Vicente Cuison
Dr. Douglas & Gisela Daetz
Elizabeth Daly-Caffell
Alegria De La Cruz
Roberto & Teresa De la Rosa
Constance de la Vega &
Michael Rawson
Paul & Anne DeCarli
Robin DeLugan
Nancy Dicenzo
Stephen Doutt
Ebay, Inc
EEOC Los Angeles
District Ofce
Erasmo & Rochelle Elias
Employees Charity Organization
of Northrop Grumman
Joseph Fanucci & Katherine
Desinger
Martin Fassler & Kathryn Knight
Nina Fendel
Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC
Robert Finkelstein & Lisa Chen
Thomas Freeman
John & Sharon Funk
Ines Galindo
Jesus & Elma Garcia
Karen Garson
Lucy & Howard Gest
Gillam Law Firm
Gail Glick
Roxanna Gomez
Jorge Gonzalez
Roberto Gonzalez
John Goodrich
Theodore Goodwin
Arthur & Doreen Gray Jr.
Richard & Robyn Greene
Peter & Ann Gregory
Fabrizio Griguoli
Deborah Grout
Timothy Hallahan
Earl & Bonnie Hamlin
John Harris
Roy & Barbara Harthorn
Harold & Lilo Heller
Katie Hogan
John Huerta & Pamela Byrne
George & Peggy Hunt
Jared Ingram
Hon. Alan Jaroslovsky
Monica Jimenez & Phyllis
McIntyre
Marian Johnston
Ted & Diana Jorgensen
JustGive
Carolyn Kameya & Kenneth
Michisaki
Ruth & Ken Katten
Bennett Katz
Gary Katz & Ilene
Sakheim Katz
Donald Kelley Jr. &
Susan Getman
Kathryn Kelly
Stephen Kessler &
Daniela Hureazanu
Deanna Kitamura
Paul Kivel & Mary Luckey
Sandra Kofford
Susan Kuehn
Louise LaMothe
Kenneth & Leola Leap
Richard Leask &
Barbara Means
Bill Lee & Carolyn Yee
Eunice Lee
Eva & Oskar Leuthold
Mark Levine & Irma Herrera
George Lipsitz & Barbara
Tomlinson
Local Independent Charities
of America
David Loeb
Romulo & Roseanne Lopez
Gustavo Lopez
Florentino Lopez
George Lueker
Nancy Lumer
David & Sandra Lyons
Emily Maglio
Paul & Sheila Marsh
Howard Matz & Jane Balkin
John Matzger
Caitlin McEldrew
Manuel & Patricia Medeiros
Flavio Merino
Bonnie Milstein
Holly & Richard Mines
Billie Mizell & Kelly Dermody
Helen Moore
Pia Moriarty & Bob Hurd
William Moylan
Brian Murtha
Jennifer Newell
Jesus Orosco
Hon. Yolanda Orozco
James Pachl
Armando & Patricia Padilla
Chris & Anthony Pagano
Chad Peace
Hon. Rosendo &
Rosalinda Pena
Linda Perez
John & Kathleen Peterson
ACLU
ACLU Foundation of Northern
California: Linnea Nelson
ACLU Foundation of Southern
California: Brooks Allen, David
Sapp, Jessica Price, Jory Steele,
Mark Rosenbaum
ACLU of San Diego &
Imperial Counties
Aisha Williams
Alanna Ojibway
Alicia Roman, Esq.
Allan Parnall
Ana L Nino
Anastacia Maestre
Andrea Marcus
Andrea Sanchez
Andreina Montelongo
Andrew Greenwood
Andy Greenseder
Andy Tsou
Angelica Salceda
Angie King, Esq.
Ann Fathy
Anne Chen
Annie Shattuck
Anquanette Taylor
Arnold & Porter: Martin Glick
Arnold Jaffe
Ashby Law Firm:
David Ashby
Ashley Naporlee
Asian Pacic American
Law Center: Justin Ma
Baltodano and Baltodano:
Heranldo Baltodano
Bay Area Legal Aid
Beaman Law:
Megan Beaman
Beatriz Pimentel Flores
Ben Marsh
Berne Kamger
Bet Tzedek Legal Services
Beth Rosen-Prinz
Bianca Chavez
Bracamontes & Vlasak: Michael
Bracamontes
Brancart and Brancart:
Lisa Cristal Deman,
Christopher Brancart,
Liz Brancart
Brando Huang
Brian Wright-Bushman
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck:
Amy Steinfeld, Jena Shoaf,
Courtney Davis
Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber &
Schreck, LLP: Amy Steinfeld
Bush, Gottlieb, Singer, Lopez,
Kohanski, Adelstein &
Dickenson: Ira Gottlieb
Californians Together:
Martha Zaragoza
Carmen Franklin
Cassandra Banks
Cathy Creswell
Center on Race Poverty and
the Environment: Brent
Newell, Ingrid Brostrom,
Madeline Stano
Chandra Gehri Spencer
Chris Hahn
Chris Ho ELC-LAS
Christa Daley
Christin Parraz
Christine Brigagliano
Christine Owens
Claudia Lopez
Coblentz, Patch, Duffy
& Bass LLP: Howard Slavitt
Collins and Pamma Law Firm:
David Collins
Creighton Mendivil
CRLAF: Amparo Cid
Cynthia Galvez
D. Scott Chang, Relman,
Dane & Colfax PLLC
Dave Farmer, Esq.
David Willhoite
Debra Smith
Dee Schilling, Law Ofces
of Dee Schilling
Della Barnett, CRLAF
Denise Orduna
Desiree Farnal
Desiree Farnal
Diana Bailon
Dickson Geesman LLP:
Kathy Dickson,
Emily Nugent
Dolores Ornelas
Dominic Ahoff
Donald Brown
Doug Hilton, Esq.
Douglas Provencher, Provencher
& Flatt LLP
CRLA WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING FOR PROVIDING PRO BONO,
CO-COUNSEL, AND/OR VOLUNTEER SERVICES
Thomas Phillips &
Stephanie Ericson
James Pickrel & Carolyn Woolley
Hildan & Jess Plasencia
Harrison Pollak &
Natalie Friedman
Bill & Gloria Powers
Mary Louise Pratt &
Renato Rosaldo
Olivia Puentes-Reynolds
Drucilla Ramey & Marvin Stender
George Ramirez & Julie Ramirez
Dorri Raskin & Bernard Raskin
Michael Rawson & Constance
De La Vega
William Rector
Mark Redmond
Susan Reynolds
Ronald & Susan Robboy
Ruth Robinson
Frank Robles
Jill & Richard Rodewald
Jose Jesus Rodriguez
James & Lorraine Rogers
Florence Roisman
Isidoro & Rafaela Romero
Carlos Ruiz
Kirby Sack & Pamela Merchant
Thomas & Lorna Saiz
Irene & Carlos Salazar
Susana Salgado
Daniel Santos
Marrick Sayers
Edmund Schaffer &
Judith Rosenstock
Charles & Ruth Schultz
Marta Luisa Sclar & Joy Andrea
Stephen Selkowitz & Barbara OHare
Rhoda Shaponik
Lawrence Simon
Gary Smith & Elena Bennett
Carolyn Soneld
Kevin Stein & Helen Bruno
Nancy Strohl & Peter Siegel
Charles Taylor
Frances Taylor & Iris Biblowitz
Paul Tepper
Oscar Teran & Josue Hernandez
Leonore Tescher
Tony Tirado
Breck & Nancy Tostevin
Shirley Trevino
Daniel & Gabriella Triado
Connie & Kenneth Tyler
Antonio Valladolid
Phillip Vedder
Michael & Johanna Wald
Cynthia Ward
Barry Wasserman &
Judith Michalowski
Winston Wheeler
Robert Wilkinson &
Nancy Tholen
Rachel Williams &
Richard Edwards
Mary Withington
YBL Hospitality Partners, LLC
dba Press Club
Rafael Jr. & Virginia Yngojo
Jannet Zapata
Graciela Zavala & Felix Garcia
Maria Zuniga
Douglas Reeve
Earth Justice: Deborah
Reames & Greg Loarie
Elizabeth M Reyes Velazquez
Erin Stredwick
Eunice Cho National
Employment Law Project
Farm Worker Justice:
Weeun Wang,
Nicholas Marritz
Felipe Bravo
Fitzpatrick, Spini & Swanston:
Jim Fitzpatrick and Charles
Swanston
Frances Contreras
Franz Chavez
Galanti & Copenhaver, Inc.:
Marie Galanti
Hilary Moise
Hon. Douglas Hilton
Hon. Mark Talamantes
Horvitz & Levy, LLP
Housing & Economic Rights
Advocates
Housing & Economic Rights
Advocates: Maeve Brown
Hutkin and Hutkin:
Allen & Maria Hutkin
Hutkin Law Firm:
Maria Hutkin
Jack Dickson
Jennifer Perez
Jennifer Smith
Jessica Gamboa
Jocelyn Vu
Jonathan Gettleman
Jonathan Klinck
Joseph Wall
Judith Meyer
Justin Goodwin
Justin Gross
Karina Perez
Kathleen Keating
Kathryn Burket Dixon
Kevin Chase
Kristina De La Rosa
Lang, Richert & Patch LLP:
Charles Trudrung Taylor,
Ana de Alba, Scott Ivy,
Michael Gomez
Latham & Watkins LLP:
Paul Konovalov, Charles
Anthony, Ashley Flor, Sarah
Diamond, Mayte Santacruz
Lauren Lambert
Lauren Peterson
Law ofce of Catherine Starr:
Catherine Starr
Law Ofce of Jane Bednar:
Jane Bednar
Law Ofce of Joshua Katz:
Joshua Katz
Law ofce of Judith Meyer:
Judith Meyer
Law Ofces Frederick J.
Gibbons: Frederick J.
Gibbons
Law Ofces of Charles Oren:
Charles D. Oren
Law Ofces of David Grabill:
David Grabill
Law Ofces of Edie Sussman:
Edie Sussman
Law Ofces of Enrique
Martinez: Enrique Martinez
Law Ofces of
Ernesto Barreto:
Ernesto Barreto, Esq.
Law Ofces of Frank D.
Hobbs: Frank D. Hobbs
Law Ofces of jack Revvill:
Jack Revvill
Law Ofces of Juan Perez:
Juan Perez
Law Ofces of Santos Gomez
Lawyers Committee for Civil
Rights of the Bay Area:
Cecilia Chen
Legal Advocates for Child and
Youth: Jenifer Kelleher
Legal Aid Society -
Employment Law
Center: Fernando Flores,
Christopher Ho and
Marsha Chien
Lisa Lazzara, Esq.
Maegen Fulenchek
Marcos Camacho Law
Corporation
McGinnis Law Ofce:
Janet McGinnis
McNicholas & McNicholas
LLP: Matthew McNicholas,
Juan C. Victoria,
Philip Shakhnis
Medina & Hargrave:
Anthony Medina
Melesio Juarez
Melissa Curiel
Miguel Bibanco
Morrison Foerster: Dorothy
L. Fernandez, Rachel P.
Williams, Stuart Plunkett,
Jack W. London, Patricia
Svilik and Alexandra Laks
Nancy Palandati
NELP: Eunice Cho
Nicole Diamond
Palay Law: Michael Strauss
Pamela De Leon
Paul Hastings LLP: Hilton S.
Williams
Perez & Caballero: Frank
Perez
Pollard/Bailey: Dylan
Pollard and Roxanna
Tabatabaeepour
Provencher & Flatt LLP:
Douglas B. Provencher
Public Interest Law Projects
California Affordable
Housing Law Project: Mike
Rawson,
Craig Castellanet, Lauren
Hansen, Deborah Collins,
Judith Gold and Lauren
Hansen
Raymond Manzo
Reed Colfax, Relman, Dane
& Colfax PLLC
Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC
Rich Pearl Law Ofces of
Rich Pearl
Richard Oliver, Esq.
Robins Kaplan, Miller &
Ciresi LLP: David Martinez,
Edward D. Lodgen
Rodolfo Delgadillo
Ropes & Graym LLP: Angela
Poon
Rosalio Castro
Ruben DaSilva
Sarah Sanger
Shanay Smith-Antenucci
Steve Kociol
Strickl & Amezola:
Barbara Strickl
Tafoya & Tafoya: Fernando
Tafoya
Tera Udall
The Curtis Legal Group:
Maria Jaime
The Law Ofces of Terry D.
Stark: Terry D. Stark
The Linde Law Firm: Douglas
Linde, Erica Gonzales
Toni Hoang
Tricia Cayabyab
UC Irvine School of Law-
Community & Economic
Development Clinic: Carrie
Hempel
University of North Carolina
Law School: Bernard
A. Burk
Vallerye Mosquera
Vanessa Frank
Ventura County Juvenile
Public Defenders Ofce:
Denise McPeak and Martha
Wolter
Villegas/Carrera: Edris
Rodriguez, Virginia Villegas,
Karen Carrera
Western Center on Law and
Poverty: Abbi Coursolle,
Dick Rothschild, Lynn
Martinez
William Hoerger, Esq.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich &
Rosati PC: Jeana Steele
Yohana Petersen
Youth Law Center: Deborah
Escobedo, Virginia Corrigan
Terry D. Stark
Maurice Mo Jourdane
Enrique Melgar
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING FOR NOMINATING CRLA
FOR CY PRES AWARDS IN 2013
2013 IN-KIND/UNDERWRITING
INSTITUTIONAL FUNDERS 2013
Gregg Fisch
Initiative Legal Group
Thomas Kaufman
Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg
Law Ofce of Philip T. Prince
Law ofces of Kim E. Card
Hector Martinez
Arthur Meneses
Dylan Pollard
Rastegar & Matern
Samuel & Samuel Attorneys
at Law
Sheppard Mullin
Bruce Abrams
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer
& Feld LLP
Albertsons
Fedele Bauccio
Bon Apptit Management
Company
Public House
Tequila Alquimia
Noel Baza Fine Art
Bella Rosa Bakery
Irene Carranza
Casa de Chocolates
Cesars Palace
Cotogna
CRLA Foundation
Hon Poli & Mercy Flores
Ira Gottlieb
Saji Gunawardane
KGB Studios
Latina Designs by Pilar
Jesus Lopez
Los Agaves
Medina Janitor Service
Montecito Bank and Trust
Tomas Olmos &
Dolores Leal
Enrique Palacios
Zac Placencia
George & Julie Ramirez
Cynthia Rice
Rosalia Salinas
Starbucks
Reyes Topete
Sylvia Torres
Union Bank of California
Andrea Villa
Jose Villarreal
Action Council of
Monterey County
California Department of
Justice, Department of the
Attorney General
CaliforniaHealthcare
Foundation
Center on Race, Poverty &
the Environment
City of Santa Cruz
City of Watsonville
City of Yuba City
Community Asset
Development Re-dening
Education (CADRE)
County of Santa Cruz
Environmental Justice
Coalition for Water
Equal Justice America
Legal Aid Society of
San Diego County
Legal Services Corporation
Marguerite Casey Foundation
National Center for Lesbian
Rights
National Employment
Law Project
National Health Law Program
Public Welfare Foundation
Skadden Fellowship
Foundation
Small Change Foundation
The California Endowment
The California Wellness
Foundation
The Kresge Foundation
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The State Bar of California
The Guadalupe Charitable
Trust
TransForm
Union Bank Foundation
US Department of Housing
and Urban Development
US Department of Labor
Watsonville Law Center
William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation
GIFTS GIVEN IN MEMORY/HONOR OF:
Ralph Abascal
Santiago Avila
Bush Gottlieb Singer, et al
Jessie De La Cruz
Benjamin & Angel Gomez
Michael L. Kanninen
Al Meyerhoff
Tomas Olmos & Dolores Leal
Ken Rice
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR CRLA V USA PRO BONO DEFENSE COUNSEL
Bernard A. Burk: University of North Carolina School of Law
Marty Glick: Arnold & Porter, LLP
Rob Hallman: Arnold & Porter, LLP
Arnold Porter, LLP: San Francisco and Washington DC offices
Parklawn community residents will nally see the fruits of
their nine-year struggle when the long-awaited sewers
project is completed in December of 2014. The poor,
mostly Latino residents of this unincorporated community
in Modesto contacted CRLA in 2004, seeking legal help
to ght a discrimination lawsuit. After Stanislaus County
spent $2 million dollars ghting the lawsuit, they settled
in 2011, agreeing to give Parklawn much needed sewers.
County ofcials initially decided to pay for the sewers from
redevelopment money but when the state dismantled
redevelopment agencies, the County turned to federal
Community Development Block Grant monies to pay for the
rst phase of Parklawns sewer contract. In 2013, Parklawns
dream came a step closer to reality when sewer pipes
appeared in their community ready for installation.
But more steps needed to follow. Stanislaus County secured
a $5 million grant from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
to nish the project. For the rst time for such a project,
the grant would even cover the sewer connection fees for
each lot.
Construction will begin in the summer of 2014, and take
100 days to complete. However, once the County lays the
sewer lines, private landowners will still need to pay for
the connection from their house to the actual sewer line.
Landowners will have to fund their own connection, which
could cost between $3,000 - $5,000.
Because this could become a roadblock for the predominant-
ly low-income residents, CRLA helped draft conditions into
the Financing Agreement that would commit the County to
work with residents to help them connect. The County
is already developing a program to give landowners access
to low-interest loans. The County will also attend monthly
community meetings to give information, answer questions,
and when ready, provide a one-stop shop where residents
can apply for the low-interest loans.
We want to follow through all the way because thats what
our community members expect from us, says Marisol
Aguilar, the CRLA Community Equity Initiative (CEI) staff
attorney who helped draft the conditions for the agreement.
Soon, Parklawn residents will run water and ush without
worrying whether their septic tanks will overow or how to
pay for the frequent pumping. n
Housing Rural Health
Nine Year Struggle Resolved
Leadership
What began in the summer months
of 2011, as a community training
effort in El Centro, CA, has turned
into a robust education advocacy
effort and a model for other rural
communities.
CRLA Attorney Franchesca Gonzalez collaborated
with CRLA alum Hon. Juan Ulloa, Presiding Judge of the Imperial County
Juvenile Court, to create a program to educate participants in the Juvenile
Justice system. I observed that we werent paying attention to our duty
to properly advocate for children in the courts care. Franchesca and CRLA
offered the passion and knowledge to do something about it, said Judge
Ulloa. Franchesca Gonzalez, CRLA Rural Education Equity Program Director,
and Judge Ulloa developed a three-week intensive training series in El Centro
for all agencies and departments invested in the educational success of youth
in the juvenile delinquency and dependency systems.
Education
CRLAs Education Work Engages Juvenile
Courts and Rescues Vulnerable Youth
Franchesca Gonzalez,
CRLA Rural Education
Equity Program Director
I found that social workers, parole ofcers,
school board members and parents were not
aware of childrens basic rightsand if they
(the students) missed out on an education
they would statistically become a much larger
problem as adults, commented Judge Ulloa.
Franchesca and CRLA planted a little seed,
which we hope will grow into an ongoing
advocacy mentality.
We really wanted to give participants simple
and clear information about students rights,
said Franchesca. The seminars increased
collaboration among child advocates like
CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates),
county counsel, dependency counsel,
probation ofcers, juvenile public defenders
and mental health practitioners.
Franchesca noted a case with a successful
outcome a foster youth recommended for
expulsion remained in school. CASA worked
with the childs dependency attorney and the
parents private attorney to challenge the
expulsion recommendation. All parties had
attended the three-week training series and
appeared together at the expulsion hearing
advocating on the students behalf. This
kind of teamwork and synergy is rare and was
practically nonexistent before the juvenile
court trainings. We are hoping to facilitate
much more education advocacy for court-
involved youth and other vulnerable student
groups, said Franchesca.
Seminars and proactive educational ap-
proaches to major issues facing at-risk youth
in school did not occur in El Centro until CRLA
and Franchesca began their advocacy efforts.
A delicate and consistent proactive
approach is imperative to good education
work, said Cynthia Rice, CRLA Director of
Litigation, Advocacy and Training. We
dont want to force compliance. We want
everyone involved with the education
process to comply on their own; appreciating
our shared interest in ensuring that students
and parents have full and equal access to our
public school system.
Judge Ulloa was pleasantly surprised by the
seminar outcomes: I feared that attendees
would remain in their silos and resist the
information, instead they are asking for
more. CASA and other youth advocates in
Imperial County continue to work together
to address educational issues involving
court-involved youth using the foundational
knowledge they acquired from CRLAs
education rights trainings.
CRLA expanded its community education
and outreach to juvenile courts in other rural
communities, including Ventura County;
added additional trainings to its series;
and worked closely with juvenile public
defenders in Oxnard to identify and address
systemic issues impacting court-involved
youth, including language access issues and
alternative school placements.
In the coming year, CRLA and Franchesca plan
to continue their education work on a state-
wide level taking what they learned in Imperial
and Ventura Counties and applying it to other
communities, including San Joaquin County.
The Walter S. Johnson Foundation recently
awarded CRLA with a grant to help expand
CRLAs education rights training program and
provide technical assistance to juvenile court
stakeholders in San Joaquin County. n
In 2012, Judge Ulloa received the prestigious Benjamin
Aranda III Access to Justice Award. Pictured from
left to right Brandie Cardenas, Franchesca Gonzalez,
Rosia Ulloa, Alex Cardenas (Executive Director of
Imperial County CASA), Honorable Juan Ulloa, CRLA
Board Chairperson Adrian Andrade, CRLA Executive
Director Jos Padilla, and Luis Jaramillo, former
CRLA Deputy Director.
Well Have Impunity In the Fields
Until We See the People In Them
As Fellow Human Beings
By Michael Marsh
Recent Congressional hearings have focused
much-needed attention on the problem of sexual assault against women in the
U.S. Armed Forces. San Diegans are demanding that their mayor resign because
of sexual harassment allegations. But where is the public outrage against sexual
harassment and assault suffered by women who work in our elds?
To be a female farmworker today is to face the sort of sexual harassment and
assault that secretaries and other female ofce workers faced in the 1950s
and 60s. Supervisors create and maintain hostile work environments. Sexual
banter, inappropriate touching and hostility toward women are commonplace.
CRLAs Rural Safe
School Summits
also develop
young leaders.
The Summits
provide youth-
appropriate
content to
expand their
understanding
of the legal
protections
available for
LGBTQ youth
who want to
address bullying,
30
Farmworker
women endure
many difculties
to support their
families. Threats
by farmers to
call immigration
authorities on
some complaining
workers are
implicit and
explicit.
Labor
Voices From a Zocalos Public Square
As an attorney for farmworkers, I am frustrated
by how little progress we have made in
resolving this problem. Years ago, one of my
rst clients was a farmworker who suffered six
months of daily comments by her supervisor
about her body. On numerous occasions, he
attempted to coerce her into having sex with
him by threatening to re her or have her
deported. She lived in constant fear. Finally,
nding her alone at the edge of a eld one
evening, her supervisor raped her.
Ironically, Guadalupe did not come to my
ofce to report the sexual assault. She came
with a family law question. Did she have to list
the fathers name on the birth certicate?
The assault had resulted in a pregnancy. Not
knowing any of this, I congratulated her on
the pregnancy. Only then did she break down
in tears and explain that her supervisor had
raped her. When I asked her why she had not
reported the rape to me earlier, she said she
was embarrassed and, in any case, did not
think there was anything that could be done
about it.
Little has changed. According to one report
1

hundreds, if not thousands, of farmworker
women have been compelled to have sex
with their supervisors to get or keep jobs,
and many others suffer a constant barrage of
sexual comments, groping, and propositions
for sex. Another survey
2
found that 90 percent
of farmworker women reported that sexual ha-
rassment is a major problem in the workplace.
A 2012 report by Human Rights Watch
3
states
that in most instances the perpetrators of such
harassment are supervisors, foremen and farm
labor contractors.
Last year, I settled the case of a farmworker
who alleged she was raped by her supervisor
in a truck at the side of a eld at 5 a.m.
before the rest of the crew had arrived. Maria
had accepted a ride from him because the
company van was full.
Farmworker women endure many difculties
to support their families. Threats by farmers
to call immigration authorities on some
complaining workers are implicit and explicit.
The power imbalance is extreme. Workers
understand that supervisors have absolute
power to discipline and re workers. And
farmworker women often lack information and
support to challenge bad behavior.
The root of the problem is that our society
has dehumanized farmworkers. When city
dwellers speed by farmworkers on the
highways of California, they do not see
people working upright, standing on two
feet, eyes focused on the horizon. They see
bundles packaged against the sun and wind,
hunched over as if on all fours, with eyes
focused toward the ground. In short, they see
animals, not human beings.
Focus groups of California registered
voters organized by the Rural Community
Assistance Corporation
4
indicate that citizens
understand that living and working conditions
1

William R. Tamayo. The Role of the EEOC in Protecting the Civil Rights of Farm Workers U.C. Davis L. Rev., 1999-2000. 1075
2 Maria L. Ontiveros. Harassment of Female Farmworkers - Can the Legal System Help? Womens Labor in the Global Econ-
omy: Speaking in Multiple Voices. Ed. Sharon Harley. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2007. 103edu/rmn/more.
php?id=1529_0_3_0 (At peak season, over 440,000 agricultural workers are employed in California. http://www.calmis.ca.gov/
le/agric/ca2009emp.xls )
3 Human Rights Watch. Cultivating Fear: The Vulnerability of Immigrant Farmworkers in the US to Sexual Violence and Sexual
Harassment May 2012
4 Jan Matthews/Moore Methods, Inc. CA Farm Worker Focus Groups CA Registered Voters December 1999
Michael Marsh meeting with a client in CRLAs
Salinas ofce.
for farmworkers are extremely substandard.
But these same citizens justify the conditions,
arguing that farmworkers chose their own lot
or, conversely, that these conditions must be
an improvement from conditions in Mexico. In
any case, so many farmworkers are illegals,
so what should they expect?
We need to change societys view of
farmworkers. Schoolchildren should learn
about the contributions farmworkers make to
our economy and society and the problems
farmworkers face. An effective media
campaignfunded by the agricultural industry
and the governmentshould be launched
that educates the public and humanizes
farmworkers in the public eye. And while some
news organizationssuch as the Center for
Investigative Reporting, Univision and PBS/
Frontlinehave done commendable work on
the sexual harassment of farmworker women,
more needs to be reported.
Laws must also be enforced.
Protection requires speed, but, right now in
California, the federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) takes a year
or more to assign an investigator to a case
and another one to three years to complete
an investigation. During those long waits for
justice, witnesses disappear, especially in a
migrant labor market, making difcult cases
nearly impossible to prove. Harassers
become emboldened.
California employers are required to train
supervisors about sexual harassment
every two years and to give all employees
information about sexual harassment every
year. But many agricultural employers fail to
provide any meaningful training whatsoever.
In Guadalupes case, her employer, one of the
largest agricultural companies in the world,
gave workers a sexual harassment information
sheet that was so poorly translated into
Spanish that it stated if you report sexual
harassment to your supervisor, you will be
retaliated against.
Maria reported her attacker to the local sheriff,
but most women do not report the assaults
to authorities. Even when they do, it can lead
nowhere. Marias attacker was interviewed by
deputies but never charged with a crime. The
silver lining was that Marias victimization and
her cooperation with law enforcement formed
the basis for her successful application for a
U visa, which is granted by USCIS to victims
of certain violent crimes who collaborate
with authorities to investigate or prosecute
those crimes. As knowledge of U visas
becomes more widespread among the
farmworker community, I expect that more
farmworker women will come forward to
report these crimes.
Our ofce works closely with a rape crisis
organization, medical personnel and local
law enforcement. But in many areas, rape
crisis organizations are non-existent or
underfunded. Lawyers win settlements for
victims but do little to address the underlying
causes of the problem. Rural law enforcement
ofcers are not as empathetic to the
complaints of assault victims as many of their
urban counterparts. All this must change.
Farmworker women may not wear our
countrys uniform or carry a weapon into
battle, but the work they perform is just as
important. They deserve equal protection
against sexual harassment and assault.
Michael Marsh is the Directing Attorney of
CRLAs Salinas ofce. He wrote this for
www.zocalopublicsquare.org. n
In 2012, the law rm of Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg (KBK) graciously
nominated CRLA for a $427,000 cy-pres award, which has supported
our broad legal service programs. Cy pres awards allow unclaimed set-
tlement funds from class action lawsuits to be distributed to organiza-
tions that are most likely to benet or pursue the interests of the class.
Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg, a consumer protection rm committed
to standing up for all Californians regardless of race, background,
gender, or economic circumstances chose CRLA because our
dedication to economic justice inspired them. CRLAs historic work,
and the daily effort they put in on behalf of the rural poor, is inspiring
to our entire rm, said Nancy Barron, a partner with KBK. We know
rsthand how Californians can suffer at the hands of big corporations
with deep pockets.
We really appreciate the state-wide aspect of CRLAs work. As we know
from our own work in more than 30 California counties, rural communities
share many and varied challenges. We have been aware of CRLAs
impressive work for decades, so it is an honor to be able to support such
an organization. We are pleased that the mission of public interest groups
like CLRA can amplify the results of our private class action litigation and
change unfair business practices in California, stated Barron.
Knowing that friends in the private bar like Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg
will support a public interest law rm like CRLA is deeply meaningful to
our organization, said Jos Padilla CRLAs Executive Director. Its a
tremendous help and allows CRLA to continue to fulll our mission and
advance justice in rural communities. I am proud to call Kemnitzer, Barron
& Krieg our friends.
What Motivates Kemnitzer, Barron
& Kriegs Support for CRLA?
Bryan Kemnitzer, Nancy Barron and William Krieg have practiced California consumer law since 1984. They back up their efforts to settle cases with extensive trial and
appellate experience. They have worked tirelessly over the past few decades to ensure that all Californians are entitled to safe and reliable transportation, truth in
lending, fair credit, and access to the civil justice system. All cases are taken on a contingent fee basis and never paid by the clients they represent.
The rm specializes in Lemon Law, Auto Dealer Fraud, Auto Repo (Auto Repossession), Door-to-door Scams, Title Loans, and Unfair Debt Collection. The rm takes
many of these cases as class actions and has won back well over $38 million in restitution for class members and has erased over $2 billion in alleged debt. Kemnitzer,
Barron & Krieg attorneys have signicant expertise in all of these areas and embody the rms dedication to providing legal services to all Californians. They protect
consumers statewide and have ofces in Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco. Offering their services to people in San Jos (Santa Clara
County), Oakland (Alameda County), Orange County, Contra Costa County, San Bernardino, Riverside, Palm Springs, Moreno Valley, and throughout the Central Valley
(Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Bakerseld), Kemnitzer, Barron & Krieg is proud to be a part of the California community.
If you are an attorney or law rm representative and are interested in nominating CRLA for a cy pres award or doing
Pro Bono work with us please contact Jeff Ponting at [email protected] for more information.
Cy Pres
Farmworkers residing in camps owned and operated by
Marchi Central Farms complained for years that they lived with
contaminated drinking water, broken appliances, leaking ceil-
ings and pipes, windows without screens, nightly smells from
pesticide application in nearby elds, and an army of slugs.
Tenants who complained to their landlord said they were told
if they didnt like it they could move. With low-cost housing at
a minimum on the coast and in San Mateo County in general,
the residents had little choice but to bear the suffering and
pay for the repairs themselves.
The County tested the drinking water, found high levels
of nitrate, and red-tagged and condemned the buildings.
Remaining in substandard dangerous housing could no
longer remain an option.
Former farmworker and current CRLA Community Worker
Jesus Lopez, along with CRLA Salinas Attorney Lisel
Holdenried, helped CRLA take on the case. Lisel, working
with Ilene Jacobs and Mike Meuter, Directors of Litigation,
Advocacy and Training, ably and successfully defended the
farmworkers against the County and the property owners.
Thanks to staffs hard work, CRLA negotiated a settlement,
which included a package for damages ($115,137) and a
provision for legal fees, the amount of which the parties
agreed would be determined by a judge. The parties
attempted to settle the issue of fees prior to bringing a
Motion For Fees and Costs, but were not able to agree on
that issue, after several months of discussions.
Lisel, in spite of being at CRLA for about three and a half
years at that time, prepared her rst attorneys fees motion.
This was the rst fee motion that had been brought since
the 1990s. The threat of attorneys fees can be a big hammer
in our advocacy toolbox because liability increases, said
Lisel. From the 1990s until 2010, when President Obama
lifted the legal restrictions, legal service agencies couldnt
collect legal fees. The judge ruled in CRLAs favor and
awarded $149,125.00 in fees and costs. Its important that
law violators know that they can face hefty penalties, said
Lisel. Hopefully that will make them think twice about not
following the law! n
Housing
Dangerous Substandard Housing
Pescadero, California
Financials
2012-2013

STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION
December 31, 2013 and 2012
ASSETS 2013 2012
CURRENT ASSETS
Cash and cash
equivalents $2,105,319 $2,545,020
Grants receivable 490,675 186,428
Pledges receivable 69,808 18,670
Other receivable 39,521 35,219
Prepaid expenses,
deposits, and
employee advances 417,680 429,689
Other assets 800 445
Total current assets $3,123,803 $3,215,471
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Client trust funds 211,760 90,044
Property and
equipment 1,213,500 1,243,424
Total non-current assets 1,425,260 1,333,468
Total assets $4,549,063 $4,548,939
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS 2013 2012
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Accounts payable $159,149 $245,654
Accrued liabilities 551,344 901,748
Refundable advances 1,349,299 1,024,546
Current portion of
notes payable 48,620 433,024
Total current liabilities $2,108,412 $2,604,972
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Client trust funds payable 211,760 90,044
Notes payable 482,563 135,570
Total non-current liabilities 694,323 225,614
Total liabilities $2,802,735 $2,830,586
NET ASSETS
Unrestricted 526,902 341,801
Unrestricted board
designated 1,074,526 1,029,447
Temporarily restricted 144,900 347,105
Total net assets 1,746,328 1,718,353
Total liabilities
and net assets $4,549,063 $4,548,939
STATEMENTS OF ACTIVITES AND CHANGES IN NET ASSETS Year Ended December 31, 2013 Year Ended December 31, 2012
TEMPORARILY TEMPORARILY
UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED TOTAL UNRESTRICTED RESTRICTED TOTAL
REVENUE AND SUPPORT
Grant revenue $8,000 $12,451,595 $12,459,595 $14,423 $11,603,906 $11,618,329
Donated services 1,821,000 - 1,821,000 1,841,100 - 1,841,100
Attorneys fees and costs recovery 160,915 342,566 503,481 158,746 726,671 885,417
Contributions 854,001 6,000 860,001 264,112 - 264,112
Special event revenue 154,515 - 154,515 156,147 - 156,147
Other revenue 51,187 75,450 126,637 29,690 19,829 49,519
Net assets released from
program restrictions 13,077,816 (13,077,816) - 12,177,096 (12,177,096) -
Total revenue and support 16,127,434 (202,205) 15,925,229 14,641,314 173,310 14,814,624
EXPENSES
Program services 13,326,779 - 13,326,779 12,232,442 - 12,232,442
Management and general 2,012,481 - 2,012,481 1,712,126 - 1,712,126
Fundraising 557,994 - 557,994 626,107 - 626,107
Total expenses 15,897,254 - 15,897,254 14,570,675 - 14,570,675
Change in net assets 230,180 (202,205) 27,975 70,639 173,310 243,949
NET ASSETS
Beginning of year 1,371,248 347,105 1,718,353 1,300,609 173,795 1,474,404
End of year $1,601,428 $144,900 $1,746,328 $1,371,248 $347,105 $1,718,353
CRLA is funded in part by the Legal Services Corporation. As a
condition of the funding it receives from LSC, it is restricted from
engaging in certain activities in all of its legal work, including
work supported by other funding sources. CRLA may not expend
any funds for any activity prohibited by the Legal Services
Corporation ACT, 42 U.S.C. 2996 et seq. or by Public Law 104-
134. Public Law 104-134 504(d) requires that notice of these
restrictions be given to all funders of programs funded by the
Legal Services Cor poration. For a copy of these laws or any other
information or clarications, please contact Kim Jones, Director
of Giving, 213-361-8208.
Donations 7 %
Other 5%
Fund Development 4%
Management
& General 12%
Legal Services
Corporation Grants
54%
Other
Grants
24%
State Bar
Grants
16%
Program Services
84%
2013 REVENUE 2013 EXPENSES
2014 Board of Directors and Staff
CRLA BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
Adrian S. Andrade
Chairperson
Brian Murtha
Vice Chairperson
Dee Schilling
Secretary
Nettie Amey
Erika Anzoategui
Miguel Baez
Francisco Baeza
Manuel Barrera
Raul Cadena
Rudy Cardenas
Jack Carson Revvill
Anne Cerney
Clare Conk
Flavio de Jesus Merino
Roberto de la Rosa
R. I. de la Rosa Jr.
Micael Estremera
Richard Fajardo
Robert Farrace
Anne Fletcher
Alicia Gamez
Adalberto Gomez
Roberto Gonzalez
Roxanna Gomez
Carole Harper
Olof Hellen
Donald Hubbard
Ena Lopez
Luis Magana
Javier Maldonado
Omar Malfavon
Henry Marquez
David Martinez
Myrna Martinez-Nateras
Janet Mc.Ginnis
Craig McCollum
Vidal Mendoza
Gabriella Navarro-Busch
Pedro Paez
Camille Pannu
Jesus Pelayo
Tele Ramirez
Irene Ramirez
Frank Ramirez
Susan Ratzkin
Jose Rodriguez
Isidoro Romero
Ramon Romero
Thomas Saiz
Christine Santana
Susan Scott
Juan Valdovinos
Antonio Villadolid
Laura Yrigollen
Graciela Zavala
EXECUTIVE STAFF
Jos R. Padilla
Executive Director
Marcela Ruiz
Deputy Dir.
Dan Torres
Deputy Dir. of Programs
& New Initiatives
Ilene Jacobs
Dir. of Lit. Advoc.
& Traing
Michael Meuter
Dir. of Lit. Advoc.
& Traing
Cynthia Rice
Dir. of Lit. Advoc.
& Traing
CENTRAL
ADMINISTRATION
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Ana Garza
Teresa Santiago
DEVELOPMENT
Kim Jones, Dir of Individual
Giving
Austin Cummings
Dolores Garay
Susan Podesta
FINANCE
Frank Bittner, Dir.
Carol Banbury
Elena Mak
Robert Sikin
HUMAN RESOURCES
Jesus Orosco, Dir.
Regina Feliciano
Erika Salazar
LITIGATION UNIT
Gladys Briscoe
Dee Filicia
LGBT PROGRAM
Dan Torres, Acting Dir.
RURAL EDUCATION
EQUITY PROGRAM
Franchesca Gonzales
RURAL HEALTH
DISPARITIES DIRECTOR
Laura Berumen
IT DEPARTMENT
Joshua Leong, Dir.
Felix Hernandez
Marques Varnado
INDIGENOUS PROGRAM
Maureen Keffer, Dir
PRIVATE ATTORNEY
INVOLVEMENT
Jeff Ponting
COACHELLA
Blaz Gutierrez,
Interim Dir.
Emanuel Benitez
Ruth Estrada
Frank Kopcinski
Carmen Lopez-Rodriguez
Lorena Martinez
Laura Massie
DELANO
Timothy McKinley, Dir.
Juanita Barrera Castro
Sahar Durali
Alfred Hernandez
Pauline Lara
Petra Martinez
EL CENTRO
Patrick Saldana, Dir.
Laura Berumen, Dir.
Carla Diaz
Rebeca V. Gamboa
Maria Guerena
Lupe Quintero, Dir. CW
Veronica Tamayo
Priscilla Valenzuela
Yhezel Vargas
FRESNO
Felicia Espinosa, Dir.
Elizabeth Aakhus
Estella Cisneros
Dolores Curiel
Ephraim Camacho
Olivia Faz
Janaki Jagannath
Nora Ramiez
Elizabeth Trujillo
Norma Ventura
ARVIN OFFICE
Marissa Lundin
Fausto Sanchez
MADERA
Baldwin Moy, Dir.
Angelica Cuevas
Angela Lozano
Johanna Torres
MARYSVILLE
Laura Ferree, Dir
Angela Breining
Candice Coolidge
Regina Davidson
Carmen Franklin
Sonia Garibay
Julie Hall
Bonnye Hughes
Magda Tatiana Reyes
Kimberly Stonebarger
MODESTO
Jessica Jewell, Dir.
Marisol Aguilar
Luis Castillo
Ubaldo Fernandez
Linda R. Rodriguez
Yvonne Sanchez
Christina Teixeira
Rebecca Tinoco
OXNARD
Franchesca Gonzalez, Dir.
Monica de la Hoya, Dir.
Irma Avila-Espinoza
Rosie Cisneros
Hector Delgado
Antonio Flores
Cecilia Flores
Maydole Topete
Gabriela Vega
SALINAS
Elena Dineen, Dir.
Michael Marsh, Dir.
Mariano Alvarez
Victoria Canepa
Hector De La Rosa
Lisel Holdenried
Pearl Kan
Anna Leah Rick
Maria Serena
Maria Elena Hernandez
Jesus Lopez
Jeanette Pantoja
Maria Vizzusi
SAN LUIS OBISPO &
PASO ROBLES
Michael Blank, Dir.
Myrna Alvarez
Susan King
Ruth Parker-Angulo
SANTA BARBARA
Teresa Martinez, Dir.
Blanca Rosa Avila
Sylvia Rodriguez Olivares
SANTA MARIA
Jeannie Barrett, Dir.
Philip Bertenthal, Dir.
Miguel Casillas
Mary Jacka
Olga Santos
Sylvia Torres
Irma Trejo
SANTA ROSA OFFICE
Jeffery Hoffman, Dir.
Hilda Cisneros
Patricia Fink
Monica Guzman
Robert Lotero
Lorenzo Oropeza
Dulce Leal Romero
Alfredo Sanchez
SEASIDE
Kenia Acevedo
STOCKTON
Blanca Bauelos, Dir.
Vicki Cody, Dir.
Esmeralda Zendejas, Dir.
Martha Acevedo
Cynthia Chagolla
Sylvia Escobar
Denise Mendez
Monica Sousa
VISTA
Prairie Bly, Dir.
Jennifer Bonilla
Miriam Erb
Carlos Maldonado
Yolanda Rios
WATSONVILLE
Gretchen Regenhardt, Dir
Shirley Conner
Janet Dollar
Phyllis Katz
Irish Tapia
Judy Vazquez
OAKLAND
(Administrative Only)
Jos R. Padilla, Executive Director
Marcela Ruiz, Deputy Dir.
Dan Torres, Deputy Dir.
2201 Broadway, Suite 815
Oakland, CA 94612
TEL (415) 777-2752
FAX (415) 543-2752
[email protected]
www.crla.org
COACHELLA
Blaz Gutierrez, Interim Dir.
1460 6th Street
P.O. Box 35
Coachella, CA 92236
(760) 398-7264/7261
FAX (760) 398-1050
DELANO
Timothy McKinley, Dir.
601 High St., Ste C
Delano, CA 93215
(661) 725-4350 9am-4pm
FAX (661) 725-1062
EL CENTRO
Patrick Saldana, Dir.
449 Broadway
El Centro, CA 92243
(760) 353-0220
FAX (760) 353-6914
FRESNO
Felicia Espinosa, Dir.
2115 Kern Street, Suite 370
Fresno, CA 93721
(559) 441-8721
FAX (559) 441-8443
ARVIN
211 Bear Mountain Blvd.
Arvin, CA 93203
661-845-3840
HOLLISTER
(Intake on Wed - appointments only)
310 4th Street
Hollister, CA 95023
(831) 724-2253
LOS ANGELES
(Administrative Only)
Kim Jones, Director of
Individual Giving
714 W. Olympic Blvd., Ste 450
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 361-8208
MADERA
Baldwin Moy, Dir.
126 North B Street
Madera, CA 93638
(559) 674- 5671
FAX (559) 674- 5674
MARYSVILLE
Laura Ferree, Dir.
511 D Street
P.O. Box 2600
Marysville, CA 95901
(530) 742- 5191
FAX (530) 742-0421
MODESTO
Jessica Jewell, Dir.
1111 I Street, Suite 310
Modesto, CA 95354
(209) 577-3811
FAX (209) 577-1098
OXNARD, MIGRANT
P.O. Box 1561
Oxnard, CA 93032
(805) 486-1068
FAX (805) 483-0535
OXNARD, BASIC
Monica de la Hoya, Dir.
338 South A Street
Oxnard, CA 93030
(805) 483-8083
Fax (805) 483-0535
PASO ROBLES
(intake 2-6p Tues. & Fri.)
400 Oak Hill Rd.
Paso Robles, CA 93446
(805) 239- 3708
FAX (805) 239-4912
SALINAS, BASIC
Elena Dineen, Dir.
3 Williams Road
Salinas, CA 93905
(831) 757-5221
FAX (831) 757-6212
SALINAS, MIGRANT
Michael Marsh, Dir.
3 Williams Road
Salinas, CA 93905
(831) 757-5221
FAX (831) 757-6212
SEASIDE
(intake on Mon. Only)
1364 Fremont Blvd.
Seaside, CA 93955
831-673-1377
SAN LUIS OBISPO
Michael Blank, Dir.
1011 Pacic Street, #A
San Luis Obispo, CA 93410
SANTA BARBARA
Teresa Martinez, Dir.
22 N. Milpas Street, Ste. F
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
(805) 963-5982
SANTA MARIA
Jeannie Barrett, Reg. Dir.
Philip Bertenthal, Dir.
2050 G South Broadway
Santa Maria, CA 93454
(805) 922-4563
FAX (805) 928-0693
SANTA ROSA
Jeffery Hoffman, Dir.
1260 N. Dutton Ave, Suite 160
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
(707) 528-9941
FAX (707) 528-0125
STOCKTON
Vicki Cody, Dir.
Esmeralda Zendejas, Dir.
Blanca Bauelos, Dir.
145 E. Weber Avenue
Stockton, CA 95202
(209) 946-0605
FAX (209) 946-5730
VISTA
Prairie Bly, Dir.
640 Civic Ctr. Dr., #108
Vista, CA 92084
(831) 724-2253
FAX (760) 966-0291
WATSONVILLE
(Intake on Tue 3:00 to 6:30 pm (drop-in))
Gretchen Regenhardt, Reg. Dir.
21 Carr Street
Watsonville, CA 95076
(831) 724-2253
FAX (831) 724-7530
Santa Cruz, Basic
(Intake on Mondays only
Time: 11-2pm; 3-6pm (drop-in))
1740 17th Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831-458-1140
HOW TO GI VE TO CRLA
VISIT WWW.CRLA.ORG
TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE
Printed on Recycled Paper: post consumer waste,
neutral pH and chlorine free. Soy based inks.
CREDITS
Design: LaserCom Design
Printing: Trade Lithography
Photos: David Bacon and
CRLA archives
Writers: Austin Cummings,
Dolores Garay, Kim Jones,
Karen Topakian

2014 CRLA Ofces
Santa Cruz
Santa Barbara
Los Angeles
Hollister
Oakland
Arvin
Seaside
NONPROFIT ORG
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
SAN FRANCISCO CA
PERMIT NO. 1904
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
2201 Broadway, Suite 815
Oakland, CA 94612

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

CRLA 2013 Annual Report

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CRLA 2013 Annual Report

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

CRLA 2013 Annual Report

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CRLA provides a wide array of legal services that directly touch thousands of low-income

You might also like