Available Where the Help is Needed

Our Medical Legal Community Partnership (MLCP) helps address socio-legal needs, such as medical insurance, housing stability, and income support to improve lives in neighborhoods around Philadelphia. 

Embedded within community health centers, the MLCP integrates legal advocacy with medical care. Legal advocates collaborate with healthcare providers to screen patients for social and legal needs, addressing issues such as lack of insurance, substandard housing conditions, and access to public benefits, all of which can significantly impact health outcomes. What started as one attorney running the MLCP on a completely volunteer basis, has expanded to operating at 17 sites that include all 8 of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Centers (PDPH), two Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and hospital-based community practices at Einstein Medical Center and Temple Health.  

Our innovative approach sets us apart from other medical-legal partnerships around the country. Over 11 years, we have carefully built trusting relationships with health center staff by learning to adapt to each health center’s needs and the legal needs of the communities who seek their services. One client was thrilled with the help she received from MLCP Staff Attorney, Lila Sevener in 2024:

“PLA’s MLCP helped me with a situation where I didn’t have the energy to keep fighting, and I was ready to give up. My advocate, MLCP Staff Attorney Lila Sevener, helped me file an appeal, which I wasn’t going to go through with because it was so overwhelming. Because of Lila’s help, I was able to get the benefits that I needed. Lila has a gift for attention to detail and is wonderful. She’s very smart and treated me respectfully. She’s not a pushover, but she has a sweet disposition. I hope that your MLCP program and services are available to other people because of the way they helped me. I know for a fact a lot of people could use this program; this work is so important.”