Inclusive Community Development
The opportunity to grow, learn, and thrive shouldn’t depend on the zip code where you were born or where you currently reside.
A long legacy of historical and persistent divestment from low-income communities and communities of color has resulted in a lack of access to quality healthcare, affordable housing, child care, and educational and economic opportunities for some neighborhoods, exacerbating existing economic and racial inequalities.
To bridge this gap, Public Counsel provides critical technical and legal support to nonprofits and small businesses, including child care providers, health care clinics, advocacy groups, and nonprofit affordable housing developers, and works to build the capacity of grassroots groups to lead movements for economic and housing justice.
Our Areas of Expertise
Our Approach
Since 1979, Public Counsel’s Community Development Project has been dedicated to creating healthier, greener, and economically stable communities through its support of charitable organizations and businesses in the Los Angeles region. We strengthen existing networks and infrastructures that provide crucial services to historically marginalized neighborhoods, working towards a more inclusive and vibrant California. We accomplish this by:
1
Support for Nonprofits & Small Businesses
We provide critical technical and legal support to nonprofits and small businesses, including child care providers, health care clinics, and nonprofit affordable housing developers, and work to build the capacity of grassroots groups to lead movements for economic and housing justice.
2
Amplifying Community-Led Campaigns
We provide legal and policy support to community-led coalitions and movements for racial and economic justice to amplify power in low-income communities of color. We have supported campaigns related to the creation and preservation of affordable housing, protecting tenants, quality employment opportunities, entrepreneurship, child care, access to open space, and ending the criminalization of poverty.
3
Creating Systems Change Through Litigation & Advocacy
We use a community lawyering approach to advance racial and economic justice, partnering with community groups to pursue impact litigation and policy advocacy. Together, we work to dismantle discriminatory laws and policies, remove barriers to opportunity, and build the infrastructure communities need to thrive.
Quick Stats
500
Non-Profits & Small Businesses
Receive support from the Community Development Project each year
$20,000+
Reimbursed to L.A. Street Vendors
Through a 2024 settlement, cancelling hundreds of unlawful citations, fines & fees.
2
Beach-Front Parcels
Returned to the heirs of Bruce’s Beach, a Black-owned resort seized in 1924.
The Latest
Popular Resources
01/23/25
FAQs on Nonprofit and Small Business Rights with Respect to Immigration Enforcement (ICE)
As a nonprofit or small business owner, it is critical to know your rights and responsibilities if immigration enforcement officials appear at your facility, office, or workplace. These FAQ address…
Learn More01/21/25
FAQs on Nonprofit and Small Business Employer Obligations With Respect To California Wildfires
These FAQs address workplace responsibilities of employers in the wake of the California wildfires, including workplace safety, employee rights, wage and hour obligations, and employee assistance
Learn MoreFAQs
01/16/25
FAQs on FEMA Financial Assistance
FAQs on how to obtain FEMA assistance after disasters, including the recent Southern California fires. This FAQs discusses the FEMA process, concerns about duplication of benefits from other funding sources,…
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