Legal, Disability & Community Resources

Offers a place to meet, create, and participate in disability culture through in-person, online, and hybrid activities.

Who it may help: People looking for disability community, cultural events, and connection.

Where: San Francisco and the Bay Area, with online participation available for some activities.

Check each event's audience, registration, and access details. Open-hours visits include a membership sign-up and community agreements.

Contact the cultural center

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides disability-rights information and advocacy, including a Client Assistance Program for people seeking or receiving vocational rehabilitation services.

Who it may help: Californians with disabilities, their families, and advocates; including people with California Department of Rehabilitation service questions.

Where: California.

Assistance depends on the issue, program priorities, and available resources. It cannot represent everyone. At the review date, the intake page said its online form was temporarily unavailable and directed people to call. TTY: 800-719-5798.

Check current intake instructions

Phone: 800-776-5746

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Offers mental health information, support programs, and a free national HelpLine for emotional support and help finding resources.

Who it may help: People experiencing mental health concerns, family members, friends, and caregivers.

Where: United States; local affiliates offer additional programs.

The HelpLine is available Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Eastern, excluding federal holidays. Text NAMI to 62640 or call. It does not provide therapy, crisis response, individual advocacy, or legal representation; for immediate emotional or crisis support, see 988 below.

View NAMI HelpLine options

Phone: 800-950-6264

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Connects people seeking help with drinking to peer meetings and shares members' experiences of recovery alongside mental health challenges.

Who it may help: People who want to stop drinking, including people who also experience mental health conditions.

Where: Local and online groups; the official locator includes United States and Canadian service offices.

Membership has no dues or fees and requires a desire to stop drinking. Meeting formats vary. A.A. offers peer support, not medical or psychiatric treatment. Its linked mental health pamphlet shares personal experiences rather than treatment instructions.

Find local or online A.A. contacts

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides free, round-the-clock emotional and crisis support by phone, text, or online chat.

Who it may help: People experiencing emotional distress, mental health or substance-use concerns, and people worried about someone else.

Where: United States.

Call or text 988, or use the website's chat. You do not have to be thinking about suicide to reach out.

See ways to connect with 988

Phone: 988

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

A nonprofit offering immigration, housing, and economic-advancement services, including help with wage theft and consumer scams.

Who it may help: People with limited incomes whose needs fit a program.

Where: San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, California; confirm the specific program’s requirements.

Ask about current income, location, case-type, and intake requirements. Advice or representation depends on program capacity and acceptance.

Explore CLSEPA services and intake options

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

A nonprofit civil-liberties organization with rights guides and an intake process for reviewing requests for assistance.

Who it may help: People raising civil-liberties concerns, including school, policing, and immigration issues.

Where: Northern California.

The hotline is not a general lawyer-referral or legal-advice service. Intake does not guarantee advice or representation. Continue seeking help when a deadline is approaching.

Read ACLU Northern California intake instructions

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

A nonprofit offering civil-liberties information, school-rights resources, and a legal-assistance intake process.

Who it may help: People with civil-rights concerns within its service scope.

Where: Southern California; educational materials can also explain statewide law.

Focuses on systemic civil-rights change; it does not handle individual employee disputes or immigration applications. Check geographic and issue limits. Representation is selective.

Read ACLU Southern California legal-help instructions

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

The organization's website announces an operational transition; its Cancer Justice program is now part of Public Counsel.

Who it may help: People looking for Disability Rights Legal Center or its former Cancer Legal Resource Center.

Where: Los Angeles-based organization; see the successor program's service area.

Current general legal intake at Disability Rights Legal Center is not established. Its official notice reports staff layoffs and a transfer of operations. For cancer-related legal questions, use the Public Counsel Cancer Justice entry and link.

Visit Cancer Justice at Public Counsel

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Uses lawsuits, education, and advocacy to address disability discrimination that affects groups of people.

Who it may help: People and organizations encountering broad barriers to disability access or equal treatment.

Where: United States; offices in California, New York, and Illinois.

Focuses on widespread problems affecting a large group. It does not take cases involving only a few people and isolated incidents. Review its current contact page before seeking assistance.

Read case scope and contact options

Phone: 510-665-8644

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Maintains a public search tool for finding members who work on employee-rights matters.

Who it may help: Workers looking for an attorney for issues such as unpaid wages, discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Where: California.

CELA does not give legal advice or operate a lawyer referral service. Contact an attorney you find to ask about fit, fees, and availability; a directory result does not promise a consultation or representation.

Use CELA's Find a Lawyer tool

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Offers free legal advice and representation in areas including consumer problems, workers' rights, immigration, and advocacy for unhoused people.

Who it may help: People with limited incomes who need help in the center's practice areas.

Where: Primarily Santa Clara County, California.

Household income and size affect eligibility. Advice clinics require an appointment; call to ask whether the center can help and arrange a time.

See clinic appointments and contact details

Phone: 408-288-7030

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides free civil legal help with housing, health care, public benefits, disability-related needs, and other problems affecting household stability.

Who it may help: San Mateo County residents with low incomes, including children, older adults, people with disabilities, and families.

Where: San Mateo County, California.

Call to discuss program eligibility and an appointment. It does not handle criminal cases or traffic tickets. Language and communication assistance is available; tell reception what you need.

Review services and ask for help

Phone: 650-558-0915

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides education, consultations, and legal advocacy for people with psychiatric or intellectual and developmental disabilities, including Social Security disability matters.

Who it may help: People with psychiatric or intellectual and developmental disabilities who need help with benefits or disability-related barriers.

Where: Based in San Francisco; call to confirm whether it can assist in your location.

Assistance depends on the matter and available resources. The organization describes sliding-scale attorney fees; ask what applies to you. Call first: its contact page says it does not discuss cases or give legal advice over the internet.

View contact instructions

Phone: 415-931-3070

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Offers a free searchable directory and practical tools to help people and community workers locate legal resources by county and problem.

Who it may help: People looking for legal help and community-service staff helping clients find a starting point.

Where: California resources organized by county, with a San Francisco Bay Area base.

Use the online search to identify possible providers, then ask each provider about its own eligibility and services. Legal Link's search does not create an attorney-client relationship or establish that a provider can take your case.

Search by county and legal problem

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides legal information and help identifying problems involving cancer, such as work, insurance, medical bills, and housing.

Who it may help: People affected by cancer, their loved ones, and people supporting them.

Where: National information and resources; direct services focus on California.

Call the Cancer Justice helpline about a cancer-related legal concern. The program provides education and connections to resources; ask whether further assistance is available for your situation. This is the program formerly housed at Disability Rights Legal Center.

See Cancer Justice services and helpline

Phone: 866-843-2572

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

A private law practice describing services in employment law, civil rights, and immigration.

Who it may help: People seeking an attorney for a matter within those practice areas.

Where: Based in Oakland, California; ask the office about the location and type of matter it can handle.

The official site advertises a free initial phone consultation. Confirm current availability, case fit, and any fees for later work directly with the office. No representation or outcome is promised by this listing.

Visit Flynn Law Office's contact options

Phone: 510-893-3226

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides legal education and an Immigration Justice Program with community training and court-observation work.

Who it may help: Community members, organizers, legal workers, and people seeking rights information.

Where: San Francisco Bay Area.

Ask which program fits your need. Training, observation, and activist-support services do not imply that an attorney will represent you individually.

Explore the Immigration Justice Program

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Offers low-cost and pro bono immigration legal assistance and rights education, particularly for low-income Latino immigrants and families.

Who it may help: Immigrants and families seeking help within the program’s scope.

Where: San Francisco and Bay Area communities.

Contact the legal program about consultation, current availability, eligibility, and any fees. Listing a service is not a promise that your case will be accepted.

Check CARECEN immigration legal services

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

An immigrant-youth network providing community education and deportation-defense resources in English and Spanish.

Who it may help: Immigrant communities and people supporting them.

Where: United States.

Use its educational materials and check current programs directly. This listing does not establish access to individual legal advice or representation.

Open United We Dream rights resources

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Provides free, confidential guidance about workplace accommodations and the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Who it may help: Workers, job seekers, employers, family members, and professionals exploring changes that may help someone work.

Where: United States workplace information.

Contact JAN with a work-related accommodation question. Its service provides information and practical options; it does not take over your case.

Ask JAN an accommodation question

Phone: 800-526-7234

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.

Offers free workplace-rights information, helplines, and advice clinics, with programs addressing disability, wages, leave, discrimination, and other work problems.

Who it may help: California workers and job seekers, especially people with low incomes.

Where: California.

The Workers' Rights Clinic usually has income limits, with exceptions for people age 60 or older and people with developmental disabilities. Call for an appointment. The clinic normally gives information and advice rather than taking a case for full representation; other programs have their own criteria.

Check Workers' Rights Clinic eligibility and appointments

Phone: 415-404-9093

Information checked: 2026-10-10. Confirm current availability with the organization.