San Antonio Legal Services Association
About San Antonio Legal Services Association
In San Antonio and the surrounding communities, San Antonio Legal Services Association helps people get free civil legal help when the problem is too important to leave hanging. Its volunteer attorneys handle matters that can affect housing, benefits, family stability, and future planning, including help for veterans, people with disabilities, and families dealing with estate or deed issues. In 2024, SALSA assisted over 1,600 families, which gives a sense of how many people are reaching for help that would otherwise be hard to find.
What sets SALSA apart is the way it keeps the work organized around real access, with staff coordination, mentor support, recurring clinics, limited-scope advice, and extended representation. It is especially focused on veterans, people with disabilities, and families dealing with estate, deed, probate, and housing-related civil legal issues.
Programs
The concrete work this nonprofit runs. Each program may later become a fundable project.
Legal clinics and workshops
Limited-scope civil legal help through clinics and issue-specific workshops with training resources and expert oversight.
Extended representation
Referral-based full representation in civil cases, with staff support, mentor assistance, and ongoing coordination.
Veterans Legal Advice Clinic
Free legal advice for income-eligible veterans and their family members on issues such as VA benefits, discharge upgrades, expunctions, wills, guardianship, and landlord-tenant matters.
Morgan’s Multi-Assistance Center (MAC) Legal Advice Clinic
Free one-on-one civil legal advice for MAC members with disabilities and special needs, including guardianship, guardianship alternatives, SSI/SSDI benefits, and family law.
Wills Clinic
Estate planning services that prepare wills, medical powers of attorney, statutory durable powers of attorney, declarations of guardianship, HIPAA releases, and physician directives.
Transfer on Death Deed Clinic
Help for qualifying clients preparing transfer on death deeds and limited advice about title reports.
Deed Help Desk
Walk-in help for low-income clients with deed and county records questions, including title changes, transfers, fraudulent deeds, and related filing issues.
Small Estate Help Desk
Walk-in assistance with small estate affidavits and related estate-settlement options such as affidavits of heirship or independent administration.
About this work
In their own words — what they do, who it reaches, and what your dollars actually fund.
Mission
Mobilize legal volunteers to transform the lives of those in need.
Who they serve
Low-income, indigent, vulnerable, and at-risk individuals and families in San Antonio and surrounding communities, especially veterans, spouses of veterans, and people with disabilities.
Their impact
- In 2024, SALSA assisted over 1,600 families with free civil legal services.
- One veterans case increased a client’s disability rating from 50% to 100%, raised monthly income from $1,208 to $4,044.91, and secured $42,000 in back pay.
- Another veterans case prevented benefit severance, increased a disability rating from 20% to 60%, and secured a $27,146.73 back payment.
- A family case secured a property tax exemption retroactive to January 2024 and lasting for life.
How your donation helps
- $100 prepares one single will for a low-income veteran or senior.
- $250 helps prevent a family from being evicted by a landlord.
- $500 allows SALSA to serve 6 clients at a Small Estate Clinic.
- About $500 supports an attorney matched to an extended representation case.
Our story
SALSA traces back more than twenty years, when Justice Phylis Speedlin and Judge Karen Pozza saw the need for pro bono legal services in San Antonio. A committee formed with San Antonio Bar Association leadership to create the Just Take One program, which later became the Community Justice Program and received nonprofit status in 2004. Partnerships with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and St. Mary’s University Law School helped the clinics grow, and in August 2019 the San Antonio Bar Association voted to establish an independent Board of Directors so the work could continue as a stand-alone entity.
Need help?
How someone in need can access San Antonio Legal Services Association’s services.
Veterans and spouses of veterans can apply for services through SALSA. Income-qualified clients can use the public calendar to find clinics and workshops, and MAC disability clinic services are available to MAC members only. Non-veteran legal assistance seekers are directed to partner organizations, and other SALSA cases are generally referred by community partners.
Stories
The people behind the work.
In their words
Mobilizing legal volunteers to transform the lives of those in need.
We envision a community where everyone has equal access to justice, regardless of the ability to pay.
Helping launch and grow SALSA has been a privilege.
Events
Justice Luncheon
annualSALSA’s signature event celebrating its corps of legal volunteers and community supporters.
The Big Give
annualA 24-hour community giving movement that supports SALSA’s mission.
SATLA Casino Night Benefiting SALSA
annualA fundraising event hosted by the San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association to benefit SALSA.
Ways to help
Concrete needs and volunteer roles San Antonio Legal Services Association has shared.
Current needs
- Volunteer attorneys for clinics and extended representation cases
- Spanish translation assistance from paralegals and other non-attorney volunteers
- Board members with fundraising, social media and marketing, or military experience
Volunteer opportunities
- Attorney volunteers for legal clinics and workshops
- Extended representation case referrals for Texas-licensed attorneys
- Wills Clinic volunteer support
- Transfer on Death Deed Clinic volunteer support
- Morgan’s Multi-Assistance Center Legal Advice Clinic volunteer support
- Veterans Legal Advice Clinic volunteer support
- Spanish translation assistance for client meetings
- Board of Directors service
Recognition & press
Press & mentions
Partners & funders
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about this nonprofit and how its work happens.
Who can receive help from SALSA?
SALSA serves income-qualified veterans and, in some programs, their family members. Other civil legal matters are usually handled through referrals from partner organizations or through programs with specific eligibility rules.
How do volunteers and staff work together in a case?
SALSA staff screens and prepares the case, matches it with a volunteer attorney, and stays involved with support, mentors, and training resources when needed.
What kinds of issues are handled in the veterans clinic?
The veterans clinic covers issues like VA disability compensation appeals or increases, pension and survivor benefits appeals, criminal expunctions, discharge upgrades, military records correction, wills, guardianship, and tenant or landlord issues.
What happens at the MAC Legal Advice Clinic?
Eligible MAC members can get free one-on-one civil legal advice on topics like guardianship, guardianship alternatives, SSI and SSDI benefits, and family law.
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