Open Door Immigration Legal Aid Clinic

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Executive Summary

Open Door Immigration Legal Aid Clinic is a nonprofit in California that provides free legal representation to low-income asylum seekers and other immigrants. Licensed attorneys and accredited representatives prepare cases, represent clients in court and before immigration agencies and arrange interpreters and expert evaluations. Know-your-rights workshops warn people about scams and unauthorized practice of law.

Most people in immigration court do not have a lawyer, and people with a lawyer are far more likely to win protection. Immigration attorneys cost thousands of dollars, and many people have been taken advantage of by unauthorized helpers.

With this grant we will serve about 60 clients in Year 1 from 1 office. Every client has attorney-client privilege and confidentiality, we never charge fees and we do not promise any outcome. We promise honest advice, competent work and respect for every person.

Our Year 1 budget is about $276,000, growing to about $493,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 5 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director and Managing Attorney, a Staff Attorney, an Accredited Representative and a part-time case manager) and 9 by Year 5.

We are asking the Golden State Immigrant Justice Foundation for $85,000 for the Staff Attorney, expert evaluations and interpreters. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Open Door Immigration Legal Aid Clinic is a nonprofit organization in California. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. No one fleeing danger should have to face a court alone, and no one should be taken advantage of when they seek protection.

What we do.
- Provide free legal representation to asylum seekers and other low-income immigrants in immigration court and with immigration agencies.
- Employ licensed attorneys and accredited representatives who are authorized to practice.
- Run know-your-rights workshops that warn people about scams and unauthorized practice of law.
- Arrange interpreters and expert evaluations, such as medical and psychological reports.
- Recruit and train volunteer attorneys and law students to assist.
- Coordinate with social service providers for housing, health care and counseling.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We provide legal services only through licensed attorneys and accredited representatives, and never through notarios or unauthorized practitioners. We protect every client's confidentiality. We do not promise any outcome in any case, and we explain risks and options honestly. We never charge fees for our services. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of attorneys, law students and community leaders began hosting weekend clinics for people who had received notices to appear in court and did not know what to do. The lines were long, and many people had been scammed by unauthorized helpers. We kept simple records of who we helped. This proposal asks for support to move from weekend clinics to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

Most people in immigration court do not have a lawyer, and people with a lawyer are far more likely to win protection.

Cost. Immigration attorneys charge thousands of dollars, and asylum seekers often cannot work legally for months while their cases are pending.

Access. Few nonprofit immigration lawyers exist, and many people are targets for scams by unauthorized practitioners who take money and file nothing.

Safety and trust. Clients fear for their safety and their families and need advice that is competent and private. Funders want to see accountability and quality.

Missed benefits. People who lose their cases may be returned to danger, and families are separated.

What we hear.
- A mother says she paid a man to file her case and he disappeared.
- A young man says he was told to appear in court and had no one to explain.
- A judge says she wishes every person had a lawyer.
- A client says her lawyer was the first person who listened to her whole story.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that a competent, ethical lawyer at your side gives people a real chance to present their case.

Products & Services

Open Door Immigration Legal Aid Clinic gives low-income asylum seekers and other immigrants a safe, welcoming place to present their case and seek protection.

How the program works.
1. Intake. People call our helpline or attend a clinic, and staff screen for income, case type and urgency.
2. Consultation. An attorney or accredited representative meets with the person, explains options and risks and decides whether we can represent them.
3. Representation. Staff and volunteer attorneys prepare the case, gather evidence and represent clients at hearings.
4. Interpreters and experts. We arrange interpreters and, when needed, medical and psychological evaluations.
5. Know-your-rights. Workshops help people understand the process and avoid scams.
6. Support. Clients are connected with housing, health care and counseling partners.
7. Follow-up. We assist clients after decisions with next steps and appeals.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our attorneys are licensed and in good standing, our accredited representatives are recognized by the federal agency, and all pass a background check and are paid for their time. Volunteers receive training and supervision.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Services are free for eligible clients. We welcome every eligible person regardless of nationality, religion or language, and we offer interpreters at every step.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Low-income asylum seekers and other immigrants in our service area who need legal help with immigration cases. Eligibility is based on income guidelines our board sets, case type and merit, and no one is turned away without a referral or information about their rights.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our weekend clinics we served more people than we could represent and kept a waiting list. Courts and community organizations told us that most people in immigration court have no lawyer. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 60 participants at 1 offices. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 180.

Where participants come from.
- Community organizations and faith groups.
- Shelters and social service agencies.
- Courts, schools and clinics.
- Clients who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Families stay together and safe. Courts run more efficiently with represented parties. Communities benefit from people who can work and contribute.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a person who was heard in court with a lawyer beside her. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Private immigration attorneys. Skilled and costly. We serve those who cannot pay.

2. Other legal aid organizations. Strong and overwhelmed. We add capacity.

3. Pro bono programs. Valuable and uneven. We coordinate.

4. Notarios and consultants. Often unauthorized and harmful. We warn people and offer a trusted option.

5. Self-representation. Common and risky. We offer help.

What makes us different.
- Free representation by licensed attorneys and accredited representatives.
- Interpreters and expert evaluations arranged.
- Know-your-rights workshops that warn against scams.
- Volunteer attorneys trained and supervised.
- Coordination with social services.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with courts, community organizations and other immigration legal aid programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Community organizations and faith groups. We will share information and a named contact.
- Shelters and agencies. We will give staff a short referral form.
- Courts. We will provide information at self-help desks where allowed.
- Local ethnic media. We will share information about our services and about scams.
- Word of mouth. Clients tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit volunteer attorneys through bar associations, law firms and law schools.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, cases handled, clients represented and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Open the helpline and begin weekly clinics.
- Months 4 to 10: Represent clients, hold know-your-rights workshops and coordinate with partners.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey clients and partners, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. We work from a small office and hold clinics at community centers and libraries.

Safety and privacy.
- We follow the rules of professional conduct and protect every client's confidentiality.
- Clients are screened for safety and we help with emergency plans where needed.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $7,500 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a secure case management system ($4,000), phones and a secure client line ($1,500), office furnishings and locking file storage ($2,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director and Managing Attorney. The Staff Attorney, paid $70,000 a year, represents clients. The Accredited Representative, paid $52,000, supports cases. A part-time case manager, paid $26,000, coordinates services. We add attorneys as demand grows.

Management & Organization

Diana Morales, Executive Director and Managing Attorney. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as an immigration lawyer who saw how often families lost cases they could have won with help. I will supervise every case to understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Staff Attorney represents clients, the Accredited Representative supports cases and a part-time case manager coordinates services. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a retired immigration judge, a law professor, a former client, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a pastor. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A court administrator, a bar association leader and a social service director give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director and Managing Attorney, paid $62,000 a year; staff Attorney, paid $70,000 a year; accredited Representative, paid $52,000 a year; case Manager (part-time), paid $26,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 60 participants at 1 offices.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 90 participants at 1 offices.
- Year 3: About 120 participants at 2 offices.
- Year 4: About 150 participants at 2 offices.
- Year 5: About 180 participants at 2 offices.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 62 percent of our budget, down from about 62 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $85,000 from the Golden State Immigrant Justice Foundation for the Staff Attorney, expert evaluations and interpreters, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Staff Attorney salary, $70,000.
- Other: Expert evaluations for client cases, $12,000.
- Other: Interpreters for client meetings and hearings, $3,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 50% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $276,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $11,500 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $170,000; state Immigrant Legal Services Funding $70,000; foundation Partners $26,000; individual Donors $10,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director and Managing Attorney $62,000; staff Attorney $70,000; accredited Representative $52,000; case Manager (part-time) $26,000; interpreters and Translation about $12,000; court and Filing Costs about $10,000; expert Evaluations about $12,000; case Management Software about $6,000; training and Continuing Education about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $10,000; about $3,500 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $19,700 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $4,000 for laptops and a secure case management system; $1,500 for phones and a secure client line; $2,000 for office furnishings and locking file storage; $2,500 for attorney review of the client agreement, conflict policy and privacy policy; $2,000 for signs, multilingual flyers and a simple website; $2,200 for training and background checks; $5,500 for first malpractice and general insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($19,700), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $65,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $85,500. We start with $8,000 from our founding board and $80,000 in startup support from a legal foundation and a law firm, $88,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $276,000 in Year 1 to about $493,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $170,000, $153,500, $210,500, $322,500 and $307,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: state Immigrant Legal Services Funding from $70,000 to $110,000; foundation Partners from $26,000 to $50,000; individual Donors from $10,000 to $26,000. Our surplus is planned at about $11,500 in Year 1, about $12,100 in Year 2, about $16,100 in Year 3, about $22,900 in Year 4 and about $23,900 in Year 5. We grow from 1 offices to 2 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $82,500, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $11,040 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per client. In Year 1, our total costs are about $4,408 per client served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more client served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $2,606 per client.

After the grant. State immigrant legal services funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free immigration legal aid option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of clients and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $170,000 in Year 1, growing to $307,000 in Year 5.
- State Immigrant Legal Services Funding: $70,000 in Year 1, growing to $110,000 in Year 5.
- Foundation Partners: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $50,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $10,000 in Year 1, growing to $26,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director and Managing Attorney $62,000; staff Attorney $70,000; accredited Representative $52,000; case Manager (part-time) $26,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: interpreters and Translation $12,000; court and Filing Costs $10,000; expert Evaluations $12,000; case Management Software $6,000; training and Continuing Education $3,000; administration and Insurance $10,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $7,500 at the start, then $2,000 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $19,700, paid once from $88,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 60 in Year 1, growing to about 180 in Year 5. Sites: 1 in Year 1, growing to 2 by Year 5. The office is open year-round, with weekly clinics and monthly workshops.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs