The organization formed in October 10, 1967 by SWLA Legal Services Society Inc. At that time they were the first legal services in Louisiana. The original incorporators included:
- R. W. Farrar, Jr.
- A. Lane Plauchet
- Fred H. Sievert, Jr.
- Warren E. Hood
- William L. McLeod, Jr.
- Aj Planchard
Three of the original members became judges and two became heads of major law firms. The office was originally funded through a grant from federal government through civil rights legislation. The first director was Ms. XXXXXX
In 1974, Legal Services Corporation (LSC) was formed in Washington D.C. The SWLA Law Center became one of its grantees. The grant is an annual recurring amount based on the size of the poverty population in the area you serve. In 2000, LSC in Washington had an initiative to merge offices throughout the country. At this time, Lake Charles severed with LSC. Lafayette remains the LSC grantee. At the same time the Hammond office merged with the New Orleans office.
In 2000, we ended our association with LSC and have become an independent nonprofit law office.
In 2000, SWLA Law Center lost a 90% portion of its federal funding of the annual budget due to budget cuts. SWLA Law Center became a United Way Agency in 2000. United Way, based on it's needs assessment survey performed on the five parish communities. The survey concluded that the second major need in the communities was affordable legal services for working people who were not eligible for free legal services and could not afford regular legal fees.
Currently the SWLA Law Center is operating in five parishes, consisting of Calcasieu, Cameron, Allen, Beauregard, and Jeff Davis.
OUR UNITED WAY PARTNER AGENCIES
Abraham's Tent
Allen Council on Aging
Allen Outreach
ALS Association Louisiana CIO
Alzheimers Association, Louisiana Chapter
American Diabetes Association, LA & MS Gulf Coast
American Heart Association
American Lung Association of Louisiana, Inc.
American Red Cross
BEAUCARE
Beauregard Assn. for Retarded Citizens
Beauregard Community Concerns
Beauregard Council on Aging
Beauregard Special Olympics
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Boy Scouts - Louisiana Purchase Council
Boy Scouts-Calcasieu Area Council
Boys & Girls Villages Foundation
Calcasieu Community Clinic
Calcasieu Council on Aging
Calcasieu Women's Shelter
Cameron Council on Aging
Camp Fire USA
CARC-Calcasieu Association for Retarded Citizens
Children's Museum
Community Health Charities of Louisiana & Mississippi
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, LA/MS
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation - Louisiana Chapter
Easter Seal Society of Louisiana
Eljay Foundation for Parkinson Syndrome Awareness
Family and Youth Counseling Agency
Foreman-Reynaud Community Center
Genesis Complex Therapeutic Riding
Girl Scouts of Louisiana- Pines to the Gulf
Helpline Information & Referral
Imperial Calcasieu Museum
Jeff Davis Addictive Disorders Clinic
Jeff Davis Council on Aging
Jeff Davis Special Olympics
Junior Achievement
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International-Louisiana Chapter
Leukemia-Lymphoma Society, LA Chapter
Literacy Council of Southwest LA
Louisiana & Mississippi Hospice & Palliative Care Organization
Louisiana 211 Referral
Louisiana Lupus Foundation
NAMI - Southwest LA Alliance for the Mentally Ill
National Kidney Foundation of Louisiana, Inc.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society - LA Chapter
Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation
Salvation Army
Samaritan Counseling Center
Sickle Cell Anemia Research Foundation, Inc.
Southwest LA AIDS Council
Speech & Hearing Center
Spina Bifida Association of Greater New Orleans
St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital
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