PLATINUM2024

PINE TREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC

More Fairness, Less Poverty

Portland, ME   |  http://ptla.org

Mission

We believe that there should be fairness, justice and equality for all, and, that if we can instill more fairness in our society, there will be less poverty. Our mission is to ensure that state and federal laws affecting poor people are upheld, while also addressing the systemic barriers to justice faced by Mainers with low incomes. To achieve our mission, we provide free civil legal assistance in cases where it can make a difference in one’s ability to meet one’s basic human needs or in enforcing one’s basic human rights, including access to housing, food, income, safety, education, and healthcare.

Ruling year info

1966

Principal Officer

Mr. Tom Fritzsche Esq.

Main address

P.O. Box 547

Portland, ME 04112 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

01-0279387

NTEE code info

Legal Services (I80)

Public Interest Law/Litigation (I83)

Civil Rights, Advocacy for Specific Groups (R20)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Although individuals involved in the criminal justice system are entitled to court-appointed counsel if they cannot afford an attorney, no such right exists for families with low incomes who are coping with serious civil legal needs. Instead, those individuals must rely on nonprofit legal aid providers or proceed without representation. With roughly 30% of Maine’s total population living below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, the need for legal aid in Maine is great. According to Justice for All: A Report of the Justice Action Group, a 2007 report on justice in Maine, households with low incomes will experience, on average, between one and two problems a year that require some legal intervention. Unfortunately, most of these individuals are unable to afford legal assistance. The report also estimates that roughly 75% of people in the civil justice system are not represented by counsel and that lack of representation will affect the quality of justice those individuals receive.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Civil Legal Aid

We believe that there should be fairness, justice and equality for all, and, that if we can instill more fairness in our society, there will be less poverty. Pine Tree Legal Assistance’s mission is to ensure that state and federal laws affecting poor people are upheld, while also addressing the systemic barriers to justice faced by Mainers with low incomes. To achieve this end, Pine Tree provides free civil legal assistance in cases where it can make a difference in one’s ability to meet one’s basic human needs or in enforcing one’s basic human rights, including access to housing, food, income, safety, education, and healthcare.

Our priorities are: the preservation of housing and related housing needs; maintaining, enhancing and protecting income and economic stability; promoting safety, health, and well-being; improving outcomes for Maine children and youth; enforcing workplace opportunities, income and legal protections for low-wage workers; meeting the legal needs of populations with other vulnerabilities; and improving the delivery of legal services and justice for low - income Mainers statewide.

Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people

We believe that an injustice against a child can last a lifetime. We are committed to addressing the most pressing needs of vulnerable youth in Maine to ensure their safety, wellbeing, and access to a meaningful education.

In 2004, Pine Tree Legal Assistance created KIDS LEGAL, a specialty unit within Pine Tree that is exclusively focused on addressing the unique needs of low-income children and youth in Maine. KIDS LEGAL is Maine’s first and only children’s rights project. KIDS LEGAL provides direct representation to children, youth, and parents or caregivers on their behalf. We also provide consultations and trainings in Maine about the rights of children and youth.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Economically disadvantaged people

Where we work

Awards

Women to Watch 2010

MaineBiz

Howard Dana Jr Award 2009

Maine Bar Foundation

Founders Award 2010

Coastal Enterprises

Scolnik Award 2010

Maine Civil Liberties Union

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of clients served

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Civil Legal Aid

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Pine Tree served more than 1 million people in 2023 through direct legal aid, outreach, and it's websites.

Number of clients participating in educational programs

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

In 2020 Pine Tree served 3,848 people through community education activities including consultations, meetings, presentations, and trainings.

Number of requests for advocate products or information, including downloads or page views of online material

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Civil Legal Aid

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Pine Trees websites were utilized by 985,000 users in 2023, accessing Pine Trees websites for a total of 1,849,837 page views.

Number of clients served through individual cases

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Civil Legal Aid

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Pine Tree served 18,342 people through individual cases, including 6,900 children.

Percent of full representation cases resolved in favor of the client.

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Civil Legal Aid

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

Of the 6,300 cases closed in 2023, clients in more than 45% received legal representation in a court or administrative hearing. Of cases receiving representation, 97% were resolved in our favor.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Pine Tree is committed to reducing the impact of poverty in Maine while upholding our nation's vision of liberty and justice for all. To achieve this vision, we provide free high-quality civil legal assistance to people in Maine with low incomes in cases where it can make a difference in meeting basic human needs or enforcing basic human rights. Our mission is to ensure that state and federal laws affecting poor people are enforced while also addressing the systemic barriers to justice that low-income Mainers face.

More specifically, Pine Tree's goals are as follow:
• Maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic security;
• Preserving housing and related needs;
• Promoting the safety, stability, and well-being of low-income Mainers;
• Improving outcomes for children;
• Meeting the legal needs of populations with special vulnerabilities; and
• Improving the delivery of legal services and access to justice.

Pine Tree has three effective strategies for increasing access to justice. The first strategy is to maintain an extensive network of free resources that are accessible to Mainers throughout the state. To this end, Pine Tree manages four websites: ptla.org, kidslegal.org, statesidelegal.org, and helpmelaw.org. These websites offer the public both general legal information and more specialized legal resources that make individuals more capable of advocating for their own rights. Interactive forms and modules on these sites allow website visitors to access individualized information from wherever they are located geographically, which is a clear benefit in a rural state such as Maine.

Pine Tree's second strategy is to provide direct services to individuals and families through high quality and personalized legal assistance. With six neighborhood offices, Pine Tree is accessible to low-income Mainers throughout the state, regardless of geography, language, or disability. Pine Tree prioritizes cases that help clients secure basic human needs, including access to housing, food, income, safety, education, and well-being. Pine Tree also has several innovative projects that focus on specific legal issues or targeted populations; these programs include a Native American Unit, a children's law project, a fair housing unit, and a foreclosure prevention program.

Finally, Pine Tree is dedicated to community education about legal issues and solutions. Pine Tree conducts regular outreach to the public, service providers, and special client populations, including migrant farmworkers who come to Maine for seasonal work, homeless individuals and families, current and veteran service members, and Native Americans. Much of this outreach is conducted in person, but Pine Tree is on the cutting edge of new technologies, such as live video-conference, that can connect individuals in rural areas to relevant and personalized legal information and advice. Through the combination of these strategies, Pine Tree is making great strides towards its goal of providing justice for all.

As the state's oldest and largest statewide legal aid provider, Pine Tree is uniquely situated to continue to address the civil legal needs of residents of Maine. Pine Tree's attorneys average 17 years of legal experience and 14 years of experience at Pine Tree, which represents a cadre of unparalleled expertise in and dedication to the pursuit of justice for all. Pine Tree handles more full representation cases than any other civil legal aid provider in Maine, and over 96% of cases that involve representation at a court or administrative hearing are closed with a favorable outcome for the client. Pine Tree also specializes in a wide breadth of casework, which means the organization is well-situated to advocate for the rights of low-income Mainers for years to come.

In 2023, Pine Tree Legal Assistance worked on a total of 7,545 cases. Sixty-five percent of Pine Tree cases involved housing issues, including preventing evictions and foreclosures, enforcing safe housing and anti-discrimination laws, and others. Our housing advocacy addressed issues arising in homeownership, federally subsided housing, public housing, private rental housing, and mobile homes. Eighteen percent of Pine Tree cases involved family law, primarily working with survivors of domestic and sexual abuse and the non-offending caregivers to child sex abuse victims. Additionally, six percent of Pine Tree cases involved consumer protections, such as access to utilities, auto issues, and debt; three percent of Pine Tree cases involved income maintenance, including helping people access benefits, such as VA Benefits; and other cases handled involved education, employment, tribal, health, juvenile, and other issues.

Pine Tree maintains three websites: ptla.org, kidslegal.org, and statesidelegal.org. All three websites are freely available to any individual and remain an important way of increasing access to the justice system, especially for unrepresented individuals. Pine Trees websites are nationally recognized for their accessibility and successful provision of tools for unrepresented people to navigate the legal system when they need to do so. In 2023, ptla.org alone recorded 608,000 users and 1.2 million page views.

The following data highlights some of Pine Trees most significant outcomes. In 2023, Pine Trees advocacy:

Resulted in $4,242,004 in income, savings, and benefits to our clients.
Prevented homelessness for 1,756 households by preventing or delaying an eviction.
Preserved housing subsidies for eligible tenant families worth more than $250,000 annually.
Secured more than 400 new or extended protection orders for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence.

Financials

PINE TREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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PINE TREE LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC

Board of directors
as of 04/17/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Wendy Harlan

Attorney

Term: 2025 - 2023

Russell Anderson

William Black

Travis Brennan

Dan Emery

Hope Hilton

Marcus Jaynes

Richard Ladd

Elinor Miller

Lawrence Reichard

Clifford Ruprecht

Alyssa Boelcskevy

Constant Kabuyenge

Wendy Harlan

N. Joel Moser

Jeff Stanley

Carlos Diaz

Elizabeth Dickerson

Caitlin DiMillo

Meg LePage

Paola Maymi

Charles Rudelitch

Stephen Segal

Richard Silliboy