Our Why
Each year, in Wisconsin, over half a million individuals face a civil legal issue that they either do not know how to solve or cannot afford legal representation to resolve. As a consequence, many get trapped in a revolving door of unpaid fines and fees, forms, and hard-to-navigate processes that prevent them from accessing employment, a driver’s license, and housing. Unmet civil legal needs have an outsized impact on vulnerable and marginalized communities, exacerbating poor economic and health outcomes.
Our Work
LIFT works to disrupt and mitigate the compounding economic harm that comes to those who cannot afford to seek legal advice to address a problem that is threatening their livelihood. We ensure that equity, advocacy, compassion, integrity, and our community is at the center of our work by:
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Supporting those facing legal barriers to economic stability as we believe everyone deserves access to justice.
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Committing to understanding the inequities in our legal systems, elevating historically marginalized voices, and vigilantly advocating for reform.
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Accounting for our impact and striving to innovatively serve those who are under-served and under-resourced while upholding honesty, and transparency in all our actions.
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Engaging with and learning from community members and community organizations to establish supportive alliances and achieve common goals.
Our long-term aim is to dismantle structural inequities that leads to economic instability. We do this by elevating individuals, democratizing and catalyzing the transformation of archaic administrative and court systems to ensure access to justice and economic stability for all.
Our Model
Low-income families receive adequate legal help only 14% of the time. We’re here to change that. Here’s how.
Expand the Legal Ecosystem
At LIFT, we are committed to expanding the legal ecosystem by building a new frontline of legal advocates. We are working on training a cadre of non-lawyer legal navigators across the state of Wisconsin to expand the use of our Legal Tune-Up tool. LIFT has introduced our tool to social workers, case workers, librarians, and community based service providers. Our legal navigators understand how to leverage the Legal Tune Up tool to assist their clients and address challenges with housing, employment or economic instability. People do not always need a lawyer but a trusted person with the ability to help them navigate legal procedures and rules. These trusted community members already exist, and with the right training and support, they can act as legal navigators who can identify legal issues, access legal resources, and remove barriers to alleviate poverty. They are a critical bridge to increasing access to justice and a key component to addressing our justice crisis.
Embed Community Navigators
LIFT trains community partners to act as navigators for families inadequately supported by the legal system. Navigators help to identify legal issues, surface unmet legal needs, and access legal protections.
LIFT is working to transform the civil legal system for those who cannot afford to address legal issues that are exacerbating their economic insecurity. We are working to expand justice by making the system more accessible, by advocating for increased investment in civil legal aid services, and educating individuals and communities on the importance of addressing civil legal issues to mitigate poverty. Without ongoing and comprehensive change to our justice system we will continue to trap people in a maze of overwhelming, intimidating and expensive circumstances far afield from our collective vision of of justice.
Support Thriving Communities
Resilient communities that can equitably access legal protections are better equipped to build healthy families and vibrant futures.
LIFT hosts many free legal clinics throughout Wisconsin and collaborates with various partner organizations to support their events and the legal needs of their members. Current partners include the Urban League of Greater Madison, The Road Home, Legal Action Wisconsin, and the Milwaukee Justice Center. Our clinics foster hope, make solving a legal problem seem possible, have impact beyond those who attend them, and result in legal resolution.
Our Vision
Our work is just beginning in Wisconsin, and we will continue to work toward our vision: to dismantle institutional, systemic, and structural inequalities in our legal systems. We aim to secure a society where every individual, regardless of their circumstance, is treated with dignity and respect under the law while fostering a community that values justice, equality, and the protection of fundamental human rights to ensure individual and statewide prosperity.
Our 2024 ambitions include continuous improvement to our Legal Tune Up tool, growing our network of legal navigators, expanding our legal clinic offerings and increasing our advocacy efforts.
Leveraging Technology
In 2021 LIFT developed the Legal Tune Up tool (LegalTuneUp.org) that combines the power of technology and grassroots advocacy to address the legal causes of economic instability.
The Legal Tune Up tool uses innovative technology to create a simple, free, and web-based single-entry point to solve economically harmful civil legal problems. The tool gathers publicly available data from multiple sources to let the user know whether they have a criminal record, an eviction record, a small claims case pending, an outstanding child support order, or a driver’s license suspension. The tool then supports the user in issue resolution. The tool also connects individuals who may need further legal assistance with legal clinics and directs referrals to other needed resources.
The Legal Tune Up tool makes it possible for thousands of Wisconsinites to address an issue without outside assistance, increasing individual agency by putting information and resources directly in the hands of those impacted.
Our Impact
We are proud of the work that our small but mighty team accomplished over the past year. In 2023 we were able to directly serve over 200 individuals in our in-person clinics spanning four WI counties: Dane, Jefferson, Racine and Milwaukee. Additionally, nearly 8,500 individuals utilized our Legal Tune Up tool. Of those Legal Tune Up users 58% identified as BIPOC, 70% received a public benefit, and nearly 90% were considered low-income. Thousands have done a legal check up, hundreds have utilized the child support modification tool, filed for eviction record removal, addressed driver’s license suspensions and sought to remove a criminal record or request their criminal background. We are bridging the gap in justice.