We answer
the door.
Every time.
Serving New York City — 2,847 families helped in 2025.
Immigration court. Protective orders. Know-your-rights workshops in four languages. No appointment needed to ask for help.
Walk-in hours
Mon–Fri 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
147 Delancey St, Lower East Side, Manhattan
2009
Founded
It started with a family
who couldn't find the door.
In the winter of 2009, a Guatemalan family arrived at a Queens shelter with a court date in 72 hours and no one to call. The attorney who drove two hours to help them that Sunday morning filed the paperwork from a folding table in the shelter common room. She never went back to her old firm.
What began as one attorney with a donated laptop is now a staff of 24 — paralegals, social workers, interpreters, and litigators — operating out of a storefront on Delancey Street that still has the same bell above the door.
"The law is not neutral. We are not neutral. We are on your side before you finish your first sentence."— Miriam Okonkwo, Founding Director
Services, in their own words.
Every quote below is real. Names changed or withheld at client request.
Court the day after you land.
Asylum applications, deportation defense, family reunification petitions, and emergency stays. We represent clients in immigration court without charge, from first hearing to final order.
"They explained everything in Spanish. I understood for the first time what was happening to us."— Sofía, asylum client, 2024
A protective order is a legal right.
Emergency protective orders, safety planning, VAWA self-petitions, and housing advocacy. We accompany survivors to court and stay through every hearing.
"I thought I had to be a citizen to get a protective order. I didn't. They knew that."— Name withheld at client request
Workshops in four languages, every week.
Free community workshops on ICE encounters, tenant rights, workplace safety, and police interactions. Held at partner churches, community centers, and schools — we come to you.
"After the workshop I knew what to say when they knocked. I didn't open the door."— Workshop participant, Washington Heights
Not portraits.
Moments.
These photographs were taken during a regular Tuesday in November. No one knew the camera was coming. This is what showing up looks like — file boxes, whiteboard markers, door keys, and the particular posture of someone who has said "I believe you" ten thousand times and means it every time.
Founding Director & Lead Attorney
Miriam Okonkwo
Photographed mid-sentence at a staff debrief, hands open on the table.
Senior Paralegal, Immigration Unit
Carlos Reyes
Photographed carrying a stack of case files up the office stairs at 7:15 AM.
Staff Attorney, Domestic Violence Unit
Priya Nair
Photographed unlocking the front door at 7 AM before intake begins.
Community Educator & Interpreter
Tomas Guerrero
Photographed mid-workshop, marker in hand at a whiteboard.
24 staff · 18 volunteers · 6 law school clinic partners