Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Three key reasons why CLC exists: (1) The prevalence of cancer. Like the rest of the nation, 1 in 3 Minnesota women, and 1 in 2 Minnesota men, will be diagnosed with a potentially serious cancer at some point in their lives. Every year, approximately 25,080 new cases are diagnosed and 9,200 people die from cancer in Minnesota. (2) Legal care helps address the financial devastation that cancer brings. 42% of newly diagnosed cancer patients will deplete their life savings within two years of diagnosis (based on a recent study of 9.5 million cancer patients) One key way to address many of these financial issues: access to legal care. (3) The lack of any other resource for this critically needed legal care. CLC serves Minnesotans who are not already in the legal services system, but are in dire need of access to an attorney’s expertise . Cancer survivors find themselves in the gap between the help traditional legal aid provides and the affordability of the private bar.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Legal Care Program
Our main program offering is our Legal Care Program, with several key, targeted program initiatives under this general umbrella of legal care. The free civil legal services provided by the Legal Care Program (LCP) is done so in a warm, caring, non-bureaucratic, non-rushed manner, during which the client’s current needs are discussed and emergent needs identified. The majority of our clients (86%) need only to develop this relationship with our staff attorneys, receive legal care counseling to answer their immediate questions, and create a roadmap for moving ahead. For the other 14% of our clients who need additional care and are income eligible (300% or less of FPG), CLC staff attorneys will handle the matter or coordinate placement of the matter with a volunteer attorney in the community as appropriate.
Under the general umbrella of our overall Legal Care Program efforts are three specific program offerings:
~ Insurance Claim Advocacy and REsolution Program (ICARE Program)
Launched in 2020, the ICARE Program assists with insurance claim denials that are barriers to cancer treatments and/or financial stability. In 2020, over $1,030,000 in cancer treatments or disability payments were covered after previously being denied by our clients' insurers.
~Foreclosure Prevention Program
Started in July 2017, the Foreclosure Prevention Program assists homeowners prevent foreclosure by preventative legal care aimed at maintaining employment and securing income supports. Since 2017, 96 percent of our lowest income homeowners have no foreclosure actions pending six months after receiving legal care services.
~ Group Presentation Program
Since 2011, Cancer Legal Line has conducted 180 group presentations attended by over 6,500 cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, care providers, social workers, and attorneys on the intersection of cancer and law.
Where we work
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of clients receiving legal care services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Legal Care Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2020, we had a slight decline in client numbers as we were not able to hold legal clinics in the cancer center as we had done with great success in 2019. Still, our overall client impact was great.
Percentage of clients who have reduced stress and improved mental well-being as result of the legal care they received
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses
Related Program
Legal Care Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Percentage of clients who have an improved ability to prioritize their health and health care after receiving legal care.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses
Related Program
Legal Care Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Percentage of financially vulnerable clients who have an improved ability to maintain their continuity of care after receiving legal care.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses
Related Program
Legal Care Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Percentage of financially vulnerable clients who have a mitigated risk for homelessness after receiving legal care.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses
Related Program
Legal Care Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percentage of financially vulnerable clients who have an improved ability to obtain or maintain their health insurance coverage.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses
Related Program
Legal Care Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Percentage of lowest income clients (under 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines) who remain in their homes with no foreclosure actions pending six months after receiving legal care.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Cancer Legal Care's overarching goal is to make legal care a recognized and fully integrated part of whole patient cancer care in the state of Minnesota.
Minnesotans affected by cancer make up a diverse community in terms of age, race, type of cancer, and geography, but experience a nearly universal threat to maintaining employment, insurance, housing, and financial supports as a result of their diagnosis and treatment. These social determinants of health (SDOH) all have legal underpinnings, yet disproportionately impact those who are least able to afford the services of an attorney. Access to free legal care is often the key to maintaining financial security and family stability at a very vulnerable time.
These are health problems that have legal, not medical, solutions.
Legal care is often the key to ensuring basic needs are met and means of providing short and long term financial security and family stability. Examples of the cancer community's need for legal care and the difference it makes one family at a time, include:
• Effectively negotiating an extended, job-protected leave in order to maintain employment during and after treatment.
• Understanding the critical timing issues of applying for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) so mistakes aren't made, resulting in an otherwise unnecessary delay in the receipt of cash benefits and medical coverage.
• Creating guardianship documents to ease the lives of children as they transition from the care of their deceased parent to another adult.
Cancer Legal Care's goal is to ensure that all who need legal care as part of their overall cancer treatment have access to it.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Cancer Legal Care is the only organization providing legal care services to Minnesota's cancer community and is a recognized leader in the state on the interplay of legal and health issues. The unique and complementary nature of our work along the continuum of cancer care represents a significant improvement in the lives of Minnesotans with cancer.
Cancer Legal Care's strategies for meeting our goals are based on the same strategies that helped us begin and grow. These include, Cancer Legal Care as:
• a recognized, innovative leader in expanding the definition of health care to include legal care.
• a convener, bringing together those who are able to provide pro bono legal care with those who are in desperate need of it.
• non-duplicative of other legal service agencies.
• led by a staff and board with demonstrated expertise, capacity, tenacity and passion.
• helping to lead a larger movement in the state of Minnesota integrating legal care in to health care settings via the establishment of the Upper Midwest Healthcare Legal Partnership Learning Collaborative
The heart of the success of Cancer Legal Care's work is based on the strength, breadth and depth of our most precious resource—relationships. Our relationships with
~clients are based on mutual regard, respect, and trust,
~our donors and foundation partners are at the heart of everything we have been able to accomplish,
~stakeholders in the medical, legal, dental, and cancer communities are based on deep trust
~and between staff and board are long-standing, and fueled by the ongoing desire to solidify CALL's presence on the horizon of Minnesota cancer care.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Cancer Legal Care is a recognized leader in state of Minnesota on the interplay of legal and health issues, and a trusted provider to legal care to the Minnesota cancer community.
Our board and staff are passionate and tenacious advocates and champions for our vision and mission.
Cancer Legal Care's success to date is due in large measure to the collaborative nature of our work across disciplines, allowing CALL as a small organization to have a much larger impact and reach than would otherwise be possible given this size of our budget and staff.
By convening the expertise and volunteer resources from our colleagues in the legal profession, with the oncology and cancer non-profit communities' identification of survivors in need, Cancer Legal Care has been able to make a significant and positive impact in the lives of our clients. The collaborative nature of these relationships is mutually beneficial and critical to the work we do. Our partners in the legal community find meaningful and vetted work to do in answering their professional call and desire to engage in pro bono practice, while at the same time permitting Cancer Legal Care to keep in-house staffing needs contained, small and nimble. Our medical collaborators provide Cancer Legal Care with a steady stream of clients in need of legal care. In return, these health care providers receive access to assistance for issues that have a direct impact on their patients' health outcomes, but go beyond what they, as doctors, nurses and social workers, are otherwise able to provide.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Cancer Legal Care's vision is to make legal care an indispensable part of the overall cancer care Minnesotans receive.
Our dream and vision for the future includes having such services available for oncology patients at their treating clinic. By being part of their onsite healthcare team, many of the barriers of accessing legal care are removed (one more call to make when emotional and physical reserves are at an all time low, fear and uncertainty as to contacting an attorney).
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Cancer Legal Care
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Catherine London, Esq.
Amy Spomer, MD
Park Nicollet Frauenshuh Cancer Center
Jada Pirius
Greg A. Moore
Bremer Bank
Pete Eichhorst
UnitedHealth Group
Jennifer Kuyava, MD
Allina
Melissa Lundquist, PhD, MSW, LGSW
University of St. Thomas
Lindy Yokanovich, Esq.
Cancer Legal Care
Adam Kintopf
ClearWay Minnesota
Paula Montgomery
Gilette Children's Hospital
Catherine London
Howard Bolter
Bolter Law
David Murphy
Kutak Rock
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data