Pisgah Legal Services

Mission: To pursue justice by providing legal assistance and advocacy to help low-income people in Western North Carolina meet their basic needs and improve their lives.

Pisgah Legal Services (PLS) is a nonprofit providing free civil legal aid, anti-poverty advocacy, and access to health care to people with low incomes across 18 counties in Western North Carolina (WNC). Pisgah Legal annually helps more than 20,000 people meet their most basic needs for housing, safety, income, and health care. More than 200,000 people in WNC are income-eligible for free civil legal services.

Pisgah Legal has offices in Asheville, Brevard, Burnsville, Hendersonville, Highlands/Cashiers, Marshall, Newland, Rutherfordton, Spruce Pine, and Waynesville.

Legal aid programs at Pisgah Legal Services include: 

• Children’s Law Program: Helps children avoid homelessness, escape abuse/maltreatment, and access essential services, such as medical care, childcare, and education.
• Community Economic Development: Increases jobs and affordable housing through advocacy and by providing technical, legal assistance to support and build capacity of nonprofits, faith groups, small businesses, and local governments.
• Consumer Law: Defends consumer rights, addresses fraud, and stops predatory lending practices by protecting clients’ limited income and resources from unfair debt collection.
• Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention: Helps survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault take legal action to escape abuse and rebuild their lives and financial stability.
• Elder Law: Helps seniors live independently in their homes for as long as possible. Protects seniors from financial or physical abuse or harassment and assists with end-of-life planning.
• Expunction and Driver’s License Restoration: Helps clear criminal records and restores driver’s licenses removing barriers to employment, housing, education, and benefits.
• Homelessness Prevention: Prevents families and individuals from losing their homes to eviction or foreclosure, improves existing housing conditions, and stabilizes housing that is affordable.
• Health Care and Income Security: Obtains and protects public benefits for people with low incomes, including SNAP, SSI/SSDI, Medicaid and Social Security. Assists Medicaid beneficiaries and applicants to protect Medicaid rights through legal advice and representation.
• Justice for All: Helps eligible immigrants in WNC work legally and secure legal status, and addresses other basic needs. Provides legal documents to address cases of family separation.
• Medical-Legal Partnership: Helps medical patients address legal issues that impact “social determinants” that impact their health, such as domestic violence, housing, or crushing debt.
• Mountain Area Volunteer Lawyer Program: Administers a volunteer lawyer program by screening and referring income-eligible clients to pro bono attorneys; also provides training and co-counseling support to volunteers handling poverty law matters.
• NC Medicaid Ombudsman: In partnership with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and Legal Aid of NC, provides information and advocacy to Medicaid managed care beneficiaries.
• Veterans Law: Assists homeless or otherwise vulnerable military veterans by obtaining or maintaining stable housing, securing disability benefits, and accessing quality health care and health insurance.
• WNC Health and Economic Opportunity Program: Helps people enroll in Affordable Care Act health insurance plans and helps low-income families gain access to increased income through the Earned Income Tax Credit, ACA Tax Credit, and Child Tax Credit.