1. 2015COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT

3. Equal justice under law is not
merely a caption on the facade
of the Supreme Court building; it
is perhaps the most inspiring
ideal of our society. It is one of
the ends for which our entire
legal system exists...it is
fundamental that justice should
be the same, in substance and
availability, without regard to
economic status.
Lewis Powell, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice

4. F R O M T H E
E X E C U T I V E
D I R E C T O R
Contents
Board of Directors & Our Service Areas
Who We Are & Our Projects
2015 Case Numbers
Client Success Stories
Volunteer Attorney Program & Justice
for Families Project
Financials
Donation & Volunteer Forms
The mission of New Mexico Legal Aid,
Inc. (NMLA) is to be the voice,
defender and advocate for poor
people who are seeking justice in all
forums, particularly in the
communities in which they live. NMLA
is committed to helping poor people
in their struggle to access food,
shelter, security, and to preserve their
unique cultural heritages.
New Mexico Legal Aid is a civil
legal advocacy organization
dedicated to opening the door to
equal access to justice for all
disenfranchised and low-income
people and communities
throughout New Mexico by
providing outreach, training,
education, and quality
representation.
Our MissionOur Vision
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Dear Friends,
The causes of poverty in New Mexico
are many and complex. Our beautiful,
diverse and culturally rich state
unfortunately continues to rank second
worst in the nation for overall poverty,
and worst in the nation for poverty
among children age 18 and younger.
Legal aid cannot solve these problems
alone. But we are proud to be a key
partner in community projects and
coalitions throughout the state to
address the root causes of poverty as
well as win cases in court. New Mexico
Legal Aid’s new Justice for Families
Project, for example, partners with the
Southwest Women’s Law Center and the
New Mexico Women’s Bar Association
to train and support volunteer private
attorneys, paralegals and law students
in Albuquerque and Santa Fe to make
legal assistance more available to low-
income New Mexicans in isolated high-
poverty rural communities. Our Veterans
Advocacy Project works with the New
Mexico Veterans Integration Centers,
Goodwill, and other allied
organizations to assist disabled and
homeless veterans. Our statewide
network of domestic violence
attorneys continue to work closely
with shelters, law enforcement and
medical providers throughout the
state to protect all who suffer abuse
and threats of violence from spouses
and other intimate partners. Our
Native American Program based in
Santa Ana works with tribal
organizations throughout the state to
increase access to justice in Pueblos
and other tribal communities.
These are but a few examples of the
dedicated and creative efforts
described in this Annual Report that
our staff and community partners make
each and every day to ease the burdens
of poverty on New Mexicans of all ages
and backgrounds. We welcome
your ideas and continued support to
keep New Mexico’s progress in the
fight against poverty moving forward.
Ed Marks
Advancing Fairness

5. 301 Gold Ave. SW
P.O. Box 25486
Albuquerque, NM
87125-5486
Office: 505.243.7871
Toll Free: 1.866.416.1922
Fax: 505.227.8712
211 West Mesa
Suites 5 & 6
P.O. Box 1475
Gallup, NM
87305
Office: 505.722.4417
Toll Free: 1.800.524.4417
Fax: 505.726.4539
200 East Fourth Street
Suite 200
P.O. Box 1087
Roswell, NM
88202-1087
Office: 575.623.9669
Toll Free: 1.866.416.1920
Fax: 575.208.1660
301 West College Avenue
Suite 17
Silver City, NM
88061
Office: 575.388.0091
Toll Free: 1.866.224.5097
Fax: 575.956.9144
1214 National Ave.
P.O. Box 1454
Las Vegas, NM
87701
Office: 505.425.3514
Toll Free: 1.866.416.1932
Fax: 505.718.3026
1012 West Grand
P.O. Box 864
Clovis, NM
88102
Office: 575.769.2326
Toll Free: 1.866.416.1921
Fax: 575.219.6363
600 East Montana Street
Las Cruces, NM
88001-4246
Office: 575.541.4800
Toll Free: 1.866.515.7667
Fax: 575.541.3218
51 Jemez Dam Road
Suite 102
P.O. Box 817
Bernalillo, NM
87001
Office: 505.867.3391
Toll Free: 1.866.505.2371
Fax: 505.552.3004
901 West Alameda
Suite 20B
P.O. Box 32197
Santa Fe, NM
87594-2197
Office: 505.982.9886
Toll Free: 1.866.416.1934
Fax: 505.216.2997
214 C Kit Carson Road
Taos, NM
87571
Office: 575.758.2218
Toll Free: 1.800.294.1823
Fax: 575.613.1368
CLOVIS
LASCRUCES
SANTAANA
SANTAFE
TAOS
ABQ&VAP
GALLUP
ROSWELL
SILVERCITY
LASVEGAS
2015 Board of Directors
Maria Garcia Geer, Esq., Board Chair
Stuart Bluestone, Esq., Vice Chair
Paul Abrams, Esq., Treasurer
David Hernandez, Esq., Secretary
Joana Armann
Cathrynn Novich Brown, Esq.
Roxanna Chacón, Esq.
Samuel Cordova
Francesca Martinez-Estevez, Esq.
Fernando Garcia
Elizabeth J. Gutierrez, Esq.
Oma Jones
Naava Koenigsberg
Carlos Marentes
Kim McGinnis, Ph.D., Esq.
Bernard Metzgar, Esq.
Vernon Roanhorse, Esq.
Paul Spruhan, Esq.
Glenda Vick
Juliette White
newmexicolegalaid NMLegalAid1www.newmexicolegalaid.org www.lawhelpnewmexico.org
Albuquerque
Santa Ana
Santa Fe
Taos
Las Vegas
Clovis
Roswell
Las Cruces
Silver City
Gallup
San Juan county is served by our partner organization,
DNA People's Legal Services.
Office Coverage Areas
Justice for All&

6. As the need for civil legal aid continues to rise in the nation,
NMLA strives to maintain a high level of service to promote
family stability in a state where over half a million residents live
under the federal poverty line. For every 14,000 poor persons,
there is one legal aid attorney at NMLA. During 2015, we
focused on bettering the understanding of a wide range of civil
legal issues by providing education and training across the state.
We placed an emphasis on the use of technology to increase
impact and outreach, and we prioritized cases where individuals
and families had depleted resources for their basic human
needs, ultimately securing safe housing, food, income, and
personal safety. We are proud of and grateful for the
opportunities to work alongside our colleagues and partners to
help alleviate poverty in our communities.
New Mexico Legal Aid’s services range from education, advice, and
brief service to full representation. In order to supplement a
shortage of staff, we utilize technology in the form of informational
websites and the development of new initiatives such as
videoconferencing and a secure web portal to increase our range of
outreach across the state of New Mexico to connect clients with pro
bono attorneys.
No one is denied assistance on the basis of race, age, gender,
religion, political affiliation, beliefs, or disability.
New Mexico Legal Aid covers four main practice areas:
• Housing and Landlord/Tenant
• Family Law
• Consumer Rights
• Access to Public Benefits
New Mexico Legal Aid has dedicated our services to erasing
barriers to justice for low-income New Mexicans by providing
free and high-quality civil legal assistance and education. Our
mission is to be the voice, defender and advocate for poor
people who are seeking justice in all forums, particularly in the
communities in which they live. New Mexico Legal Aid is
committed to helping poor people in their struggle to access
food, shelter and security, while preserving their unique
cultural heritages.
For over 60 years,
6
While these practice areas cover many legal issues, we also
have twelve special projects:
Veterans Justice
Land and Water Rights
Migrant Farmworker/ Low-Wage Workers Advocacy
Access to Justice Supreme Court Consolidated Rural Advocacy
Office of the New Mexico Attorney General Foreclosure Legal
Defense
Legal Services for Victims of Domestic Violence
Crime Victims Reparation Commission Domestic Violence
HelpLine
Native American Program
Special Immigration Juvenile Status
Language Access
Bernalillo County Social Services Medical-Legal Partnership
G. Duane Vieth Leadership Development Program
Defense
HelpLine

7. 55% of those women are
single mothers.
of our clients are female.
110 pro bono attorneys handled
cases through the Volunteer
Attorney Program and provided
advice through clinics to over
315 clients were able to
maintain or receive a form
of income in order to
establish economic
stability.
97 foreclosure processes were
halted and homes were saved,
bringing about a financial
benefit of
5,893A total of
children were positively affected
by legal assistance, ultimately
securing their safety, homes,
education and financial needs.
266 consumer cases resulted
in financial benefits totaling
people in migrant
farmworker families were able to get
the help they needed to maintain
their income, individual rights,
housing, and benefits.
45% of cases are related to family
law and domestic violence.
NMLA secures over 1,000
protective orders against abusers
every year.
Almost 800 calls were handled by our
statewide domestic violence hotline,
where victims were able to speak with
an attorney and were directed to an
array of services.
4,636cases, ultimately affecting 14,161
New Mexicans and their families.
In 2015, New Mexico Legal Aid handled
75%
2015 by the Numbers
7
$110,926.
307
162
$10,019,501.
2,000 people.

8. Sarah-Jean first came to New Mexico
Legal Aid in 2013 after being sued for
the foreclosure of her home following
a contentious divorce.
For the next three years, New Mexico
Legal Aid attorneys worked with
Sarah-Jean and an HUD-Certified
Foreclosure Prevention counselor at
Tierra Del Sol Housing Corporation
to apply for a loan modification,
trying to get Sarah-Jean's mortgage
payments back on track.
Because her ex-husband was still
named on the loan, he was court
ordered to provide mandatory
paperwork with his information.
Sadly, he refused to help out, and
Sarah-Jean was denied a loan
modification. Eventually, she lost
her home.
Sarah-Jean's home was sold at auction,
but because her family had nowhere to
go, they continued to live in the house.
Sarah-Jean was also tasked with
paying off a tax lien, brought about by
income tax owed by her ex-husband.
Once the title to the house was
cleared, New Mexico Legal Aid worked
with the New Mexico Attorney
General's Office to get the loan
company to review Sarah-Jean's
application once more. Finally, they
approved Sarah-Jean for a modification
and her mortgage payments were set
at an affordable rate.
Thanks to our Keep Your Home New
Mexico Foreclosure Project team,
Sarah-Jean and her family were able to
stay in their home and they are now
able to make payments.
The
Gomez
Family
This was an incredible
team effort by the
Keep Your Home New
Mexico partnership and
all the hard work paid
off: this family's home
was saved!
8
On front cover from left: NMLA Staff Attorney Mari Kempton, Adriana, Javi, Rick, family dog Xena, Sarah-Jean, Tierra
Del Sol Counselor Isabel Dominguez, and NMLA Staff Attorney Beatriz Ferreira. in front of the Gomez's home.
From left: Sarah-Jean's daughter Adriana, husband Rick, Sarah-Jean, and grandson Javier in their Las Cruces home.

9. After the devastating loss of her daughter,
Ayasha discovered her two young
grandchildren were being physically abused
by their father after he took over custody. She
came to New Mexico Legal Aid needing
assistance with obtaining a protection order
on behalf of the children as well as
guardianship through the Navajo Nation's
court system. Ayasha was granted a
temporary protection order against the father,
but he filed petitions in the Supreme Court
challenging the decision of the Family Court.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court upheld the
Family Court decision. After many hearings
and much hard work, the Family Court issued
a permanent protection order and gave
Ayasha custody of the children. They are now
able to receive the services they need to
begin the healing process as a family.
Damon sought assistance from New Mexico
Legal Aid when he was denied coverage by
Medicaid for a necessary treatment that
would correct a serious orthodontic problem
causing him severe pain whenever he ate.
New Mexico Legal Aid represented Damon
and appealed the denial. When he had
originally been screened for treatment,
Damon's issue was scored on a system later
found to be illegal in the case of a medical
necessity.
The court found that Medicaid should fully
cover Damon's treatment, and the decision
was overturned. Damon was finally able to
get the treatment he needed.
Damon
At New Mexico Legal Aid, we respect everyone who comes to us for help – and many are working toward a fresh start in life. So while their stories
are true, client names and images may have been changed to protect their privacy. Thank you for understanding.
9
Ayasha
I am extremely grateful to New
Mexico Legal Aid for their
services and professionalism
with caring hearts.

10. After many years together, Justinne finally decided she needed to
leave her abusive, drug-addicted, live-in boyfriend and father of
her youngest child. On one occasion, Desmond had strangled
Justinne, throwing her into walls and smashing her head in a
closet door until she lost consciousness. When she awoke, she
attempted to escape and ran outside her house. Desmond caught
up with her and dragged her back inside where he repeatedly
punched her in the face. The second time Justinne was able to
run outside, she caught the attention of her neighbors who then
called the police. After a stint in the hospital, Justinne came
home to realize Desmond had had her phone service cut off and
had taken her name off all their bank accounts. She was left with
the task of cleaning the inside of her house, which was covered
in her blood.
Justinne came to New Mexico Legal Aid needing to extend a
temporary protective order and work out a visitation schedule
between Desmond and their child. NMLA was able to secure a
25-year protection order along with supervised visitations.
Despite the protective order, Desmond relentlessly stalked and
harassed Justinne, her friends, and her family.
Desmond broke into Justinne's house and tool shed multiple
times and stole her and her family’s belongings. Months
before, Desmond had torn up her floors, intending to
renovate her house, but had not yet started. He now wanted
all the materials back, which would leave Justinne and her
children to live in a partially-deconstructed home. Since
Desmond's parents, not Desmond, had purchased the
materials, he pressured his parents into threatening to file a
lawsuit against Justinne for the cost of the materials.
New Mexico Legal Aid's Volunteer Attorney Program has
since been able to retain a volunteer attorney who will
represent Justinne through the upcoming lawsuit, pro bono.
Through all this, Justinne continues to show strength by
coping with her resulting PTSD, taking care of her children,
and bringing her house back to livable condition by
renovating it to eventually rent out. Justinne was able to
move from her rural area to a larger city where she obtained
a part-time job and is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree.
Justinne10

11. 729Volunteer attorneys donated
their time to assist clients through
legal clinics or cases in 2015.
Funded by LSC's Pro Bono Innovation Fund, New Mexico Legal
Aid’s new Justice for Families Project was created to help address
the problem of the lack of access to civil legal assistance for
families in rural New Mexico.
The Justice for Families Project recruits private attorneys from
New Mexico's three urban centers (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and
Las Cruces) to assist low-income families primarily in the ten
most poverty-stricken counties in New Mexico – which are
mostly rural.
The project uses technology such as Skype and a secure web
portal to respond to cases regardless of the geographic distance
separating the client and the pro bono attorney.
The Justice for Families Project proudly partners with the
Southwest Women’s Law Center’s “One Woman, One Case, Once a
Year” campaign and the Women’s Bar Association on this project.
11
Working in close collaboration with the State Bar of New
Mexico and local Judicial District pro bono committees, New
Mexico Legal Aid's Volunteer Attorney Program engages in
direct case placement with pro bono attorneys, sponsors CLE
events, trainings, and provides support and coordination for
local legal clinics and other pro bono committee activities.
In 2015, the VAP hosted 53 free community legal fairs and
clinics with almost 2,000 people in attendance, as well as
seven CLE's for attorneys.

12. REVENUE EXPENDITURES
Legal Services Corporation
New Mexico Civil Legal Services Commission
New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department
State of New Mexico Crime Victims Reparation Commission
New Mexico Supreme Court's Access to Justice Fund
United Way of Central New Mexico
Equal Access to Justice Campaign
Native American Rights Fund
New Mexico Commission for the Blind
New Mexico Office of the Attorney General
Acequias Norteñas
New Mexico Acequia Association
New Mexico Land Grant Council
New Mexico Veterans Integration Centers
Sandia Foundation, a Hugh and Helen Woodward Charity
Bernalillo County Social Services
Freeport-McMoRan Foundation
U.S. Department of Labor Face Forward Program in
partnership with Pegasus Legal Services for Children and
YDI, Inc.
Notre Dame University
2015 Financials
TOTAL $6,441,958
Personnel $5,211,038
Non-Personnel $1,138,056
TOTAL $6,349,094
Audited financial statements available upon request.
12
With your help, NMLA can
ensure access to justice for
more New Mexicans!
If you are accused of a crime, you have a
constitutional right to a lawyer. If you are a
victim of domestic violence, unfair consumer
practices, wrongful eviction, foreclosure, or are
being denied public benefits, you're on your own
unless you can afford a private attorney or can
find free legal assistance. Unfortunately, there
are not enough legal aid lawyers to go around.
For every 14,000 poor persons in New Mexico
who qualify for free legal assistance, there is one
attorney at New Mexico Legal Aid. Due to
funding constraints, our legal aid community
here, as well as in other states, is extremely
limited.
As a nonprofit, we rely on and are extremely
grateful for every grant and personal donation
we receive. This can help us to provide the tools
necessary to keep a family off the street, get
veterans the benefits they need, and provide
physical safety and quality education for
underprivileged children. Our clients are our
priority, friends, neighbors, and our heroes. If
you would like to provide a gift to those in need,
please visit our website
at www.newmexicolegalaid.org or mail in a
completed donation form.
Thank You!
Civil Legal Services Commission $1,625,960
Grants, Contracts & Individual
Donations $1,412,054
Legal Services Corporation $3,403,944
As a nonprofit organization, New Mexico Legal Aid relies
on a number of grants at the federal, state, and local
levels to provide much-needed services to New Mexico's
most vulnerable. We are extremely grateful to the
following funders for the calendar year 2015, along with
our individual donors. None of what we do would be
possible without you!

13. New Mexico Legal Aid Donation Form
Please return and make checks payable to:
New Mexico Legal Aid
301 Gold Ave. SW | P.O. Box 25486
Albuquerque, NM 87125-5486
Name: __________________________________________________
(Please write your name as you would want it to appear in recognitions.)
I/ We would like to remain anonymous.
Additional names: ______________________________________________________________________
Company/ Firm: _______________________________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________________________________
City: ____________________________________ State: __________ Zip: _________________________
Phone: ______________________________ Email: ___________________________________________
I/ We want to donate a monthly gift of $__________ to be debited from my
savings account credit card
I would like my account to be debited on day _________ of the month.
Signature: __________________________________________________
Please return a voided check or fill out the credit card information below.
Please accept my one­time gift in the amount of $____________
I/ We plan to make this contribution in the form of (circle one): Cash Check Credit Card
Other: ________________________
Credit card type (circle one): Visa MasterCard Discover American Express Diner's Club
Credit card number: ______________________________________ Expiration: _____________________
Signature: ______________________________________________________ CVV: __________________
checking account
Make this donation: in memory of ____________________________________in honor of
Please include full address of the individual or family whom we should notify of your gift. All
memorial and honorary gifts are acknowledged ­ the amount will remain confidential.
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

14. Volunteer Attorney Program
Justice for Families Project
Pro Bono Volunteer Form
Please send to Dina Afek at dinaa@nmlegalaid.org, by fax to 505-933-6033, or mail to P.O. Box 25486,
Albuquerque, NM, 87125-5486. Dina can be contacted by telephone at 505-814-6719.
Thank you for your participation!
Name Phone No.
Fax No. Email:
Address: City, State Zip:
Bar Number: Years of Practice: May we send you emails? Yes No
Areas of Practice:
Paralegal/Legal Secretary Name & Email: ____________________________________________________ ___
Check here if you are a fluent Spanish-speaker. In what other languages are you fluent?
May we publicize your name in print or electronic form? Yes No
In which of the following areas of law are you willing to volunteer?
Housing Law, including: Consumer Law, including: Family Law, including:
Foreclosure Bankruptcy Divorce
Landlord/Tenant Contracts/Warranties Paternity
Public Housing Debt Collection Child Custody
Real Estate Contracts Predatory Lending Child Support
Repossessions Domestic Violence
Employment Law, including: Unfair Trade Practices Guardian ad Litem
Benefits Kinship-Guardianship
Discrimination Estate & Probate Law:
Unemployment Adult Guardianship Gov’t/Health Benefits:
Wage Payment Guardian ad Litem Medicare/Medicaid
Contested Probate SSI/SSDI
Uncontested Probate Other benefits
Estate Planning Healthcare appeals
Please check the counties in which you are willing to volunteer (including “virtually” via phone or Skype):
Bernalillo Cibola Doña Ana Hidalgo Luna
Sandoval McKinley Roosevelt San Miguel Torrance
Valencia Santa Fe Taos Other (please list)
What kinds of services are you willing to provide to pro bono clients through our program?
Advice/counsel at a legal clinic Representation at Administrative Hearings
Advice/counsel by appointment Representation in District Court
Advice/counsel virtually (by Skype or phone) Representation in Appellate Court
Brief Service, such as drafting documents Representation in Metropolitan Court
Systemic Impact Cases Mentoring other pro bono volunteers
Teach a free CLE for VAP/JFP volunteers

16. New Mexico Legal Aid, Inc. P.O. Box 25486
Albuquerque, NM 87125-5486
1-866-416-1922 | newmexicolegalaid.org