As we enter 2026, many #Massachusetts families are feeling a serious financial strain. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐜𝐭 offers a concrete way for the legislature to help people who are trapped in cycles of debt. #mapoli #ProtectConsumers www.nclc.org/statement-of...

Happy 2026! GBLS' offices are closed today and tomorrow as we celebrate the new year. We will be back on Monday, ready to continue our work for justice.

Happy new year! As 2025 ends, GBLS celebrates 125 years of fighting for justice. This year, we handled 14,400+ legal matters & helped 11,800+ families & individuals access housing, health care, & safety. Help sustain this work in the year ahead. Read more & donate here: www.gbls.org/2025-year-en...

A client recently sent her GBLS advocate this note: "Thank you SOOOO much! I can't overstate how much you've helped me this year and how profoundly grateful I am to you." Want to help others in our community receive free legal aid and achieve stability? Donate now: www.gbls.org/donate

Happy holidays from all of us at GBLS! Our offices will close today at 3:00 PM, and we'll be back on Monday. Thank you for being part of our community, and best wishes for a joyful and restful holiday weekend!

Proposed MA legislation would make it easier for people with unpaid state tax debt to negotiate payments based on ability to pay. GBLS’ Low Income Taxpayer Clinic is backing the bill to help low-income residents avoid spiraling debt. Learn more: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/24/m...

GBLS partnered with Father Bill’s, Quincy Community Action, and the @cleanslatema.bsky.social Coalition to hold a free criminal and eviction record sealing clinic in Quincy.

GBLS consumer attorney: “[Aggressive debt collection] definitely doesn’t comport with the public image that people have of MSPCA, where people trust the MSPCA and they go to bring their animals there for their care." @wgbh.org www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...

"[L]ead counsel Taramattie Doucette of [GBLS] said, 'From the very beginning, you [plaintiffs] saw the barriers in transportation created barriers in life...Our legal work with the community has transformed public transportation for every single rider..." www.wbur.org/news/2025/12...

"The plaintiffs’ persistence has led to a 'dramatic shift' in how the MBTA operates, says Taramattie Doucette, a lawyer with Greater Boston Legal Services who has worked on the case since the late 1990s." www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...

The Intake Line for the Massachusetts Access to Counsel Initiative (MACI) is open! MIRA's new program with CPCS and legal aid organizations including GBLS provides full legal representation in Immigration Court for income-eligible immigrants. Learn more: miracoalition.org/massachusett....

“ ‘For more than 20 years, the named plaintiffs, [GBLS] and the community have worked with the MBTA to make accessibility improvements that benefit all riders. I’m glad that RTAG will now have the resources and a strong platform to take our legacy into the future,’ said Joanne Daniels-Finegold.”

A reminder about today's public meeting on Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA transportation access class action lawsuit, brought by GBLS, & settlement agreement marking shift to new, community-based monitoring model with Boston Center for Independent Living & Riders’ Transportation Access Group.

Join us 12/10, 1:00pm for public meeting on Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA transportation access class action lawsuit, brought by GBLS, & settlement agreement marking shift to new, community-based monitoring model with Boston Center for Independent Living & Riders’ Transportation Access Group.

Lift Our Kids is a coalition of 160+ organizations fighting to raise cash assistance grants and end Deep Poverty in MA. To learn more visit our website: www.liftourkidsma.org. #LiftOurKidsMA #EndDeepPovertyNow #mapoli Photo credit: Francois Visuals. www.francoisvisuals.com

SNAP benefits are being distributed once more, but families are still concerned about their ability to afford food. MA's Anti-Hunger Task Force is holding listening sessions throughout December to collect feedback that will inform long-term solutions to hunger. gazettenet.com/2025/12/01/p...

Know your legal rights! GBLS is holding a criminal record & eviction sealing clinic next Wednesday, December 10th, at Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy. Preregister here: tinyurl.com/Dec10GBLS

"Homelessness is not caused by personal failure — it is what happens when work no longer protects people from poverty." see how a single lost paycheck can trigger rapid downward spirals for people surviving on razor-thin margins:" https://ow.ly/L2Ek50Xxi3v

Cash assistance grants aren’t enough to cover basic needs, let alone a holiday meal. 84 House members and 26 Senators have co-sponsored the Act to Lift Kids out of Deep Poverty. Ask your legislators to tell House and Senate leaders that raising grants is a priority.

Do you need help sealing your eviction record and/or criminal record? A free clinic will be held on Dec. 10 at 10:00am at the North Quincy branch library! See below below for details. #CleanSlateMA

📣 It’s Digital Advocacy Week for Clean Slate MA! From November 17–23, 2025, supporters across the Commonwealth are flooding social media with posts calling for automated record sealing in Massachusetts. 💛📲 🔗 Visit CleanSlateMA.org to download the toolkit, find your reps, follow us, and learn more.

Want to help? It’s easy: ✨ Post on ANY platform using the graphics in our Social Media Toolkit OR print the “I Support Clean Slate MA Because…” sign, fill it out, and share a photo or video ✨ Add a caption that speaks to YOU ✨ Use #CleanSlateMA and tag decision-makers ✨ Encourage others to join us!

" 'I am seeing over and over and over again fees that are mind-boggling‚' Laura Camara, a lawyer at Greater Boston Legal Services who has represented tenants in Randolph, said." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/18/m...

"'In eviction cases, it’s really these large corporate landlords that are engaging in this practice,' said [Almeida's GBLS attorney Courtney Libon]. 'There was never a finding of anything against her [yet] she’s paying for this large corporation’s attorney’s fees.'" www.masslive.com/news/2025/11...

Passing Clean Slate legislation in Massachusetts will provide a second chance to community members through automated sealing of their Criminal Offender Record Information! #CleanSlateMA

Why do YOU want MA to have a Clean Slate law? Help us tell the Legislature automated CORI-sealing is important to many, many people. www.cleanslatema.org/legislation #CleanSlateMA #MApolitics @bostonlegalaid.bsky.social @aclum.bsky.social @jonathancohn.bsky.social @prisonpolicy.org

Recent funding challenges for #A2J initiatives have left many wondering what their next step will be. Join us next Friday at 3 pm ET for a community discussion on how these challenges affect our work, along with strategies to find more funding and general support. Register here: bit.ly/4i0cBQp

GBLS Consumer Rights Unit Senior Attorney Todd Kaplan joined other advocates fighting for everyday consumers and workers during Consumer Justice Lobby Day, sponsored by the National Association of Consumer Advocates and @nclc4consumers.bsky.social, on November 12.

Clean Slate: "Survivors of domestic abuse, sexual violence, and trafficking are among the one in three people in the United States who have a record and are in need of pathways to economic stability", say GBLS Lead Atty Pauline Quirion & Jane Doe Inc. directors. masslawyersweekly.com/2025/11/09/m...

GBLS will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 11 in observance of Veterans Day. Thank you to all veterans for your service! We reopen on Wednesday Nov. 12 at 9:30am for phone intake and at 1:30pm for walk-ins.

This is one of the powerful stories shared by community groups CEDC, NAKASEC, National Parents Union, & UndocuBlack Network, as part of a lawsuit @asianlawcaucus.org, Greater Boston Legal Services & Keker, Van Nest & Peters filed to highlight how federal agency collaboration harms their communities.

GBLS' new LGBTQ+ Family Law Project is here to help! Please contact our Family Law Unit if you need assistance with any of the matters below.

"Former immigration judges say the administration's rough treatment of the immigration courts poses an unprecedented threat to judicial independence and is eroding immigrants' due process rights." www.law360.com/access-to-ju...

Page One in Milwaukee #SNAP

SNAP benefits for roughly 42 million Americans are at risk of being delayed starting Nov. 1 due to the government shutdown. Existing EBT balances can still be used, but it’s unclear when payments will be issued. Read on for more information. www.cbsnews.com/news/food-st...

“Do not look at us as numbers. Look at us as human beings. We are parents fighting every day to keep our families standing. SNAP is not a charity. It’s justice.” — Iris, a mother from Chelsea, spoke Tuesday at the State House Rally for #SNAP. 💪🍎 projectbread.org/news/hunger-...

For our friends in Massachusetts: families in the Commonwealth are at risk of going hungry in November if SNAP isn’t funded. Please join us for a rally at the State House on Tuesday, Oct. 28 from noon to 1 p.m.! Register here: projectbread.org/events/rally...

"[S]ome people misunderstand the role of undocumented immigrants in the community, who are often longstanding community members who participate broadly in economic functions." www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/22/r...

Monday was the first ever Supper and Sealing event! Hosted at the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corp in Dorchester, we brought together community organizations to help residents seal their eviction records and CORIs – an essential step towards making housing accessible for everyone. 1/3

Congrats to Kate Barry, GBLS Family Law Unit Senior Attorney, to be presented a Mass. Lawyers Weekly Top Women of Law award at the 11/18 event celebrating the "achievements of exceptional women lawyers who are pioneers, educators, trailblazers and role models"! masslawyersweekly.com/event/top-wo...

We are thrilled to share that Hernan Escobar, beloved husband of our own Leslie Perlera Gonzalez, was released from ICE detention! Hernan's legal battles aren't over, but he is home where he belongs, with Leslie, their dog Albert, and family. www.wcvb.com/article/mald...

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” A call for lawyers to start their pro bono service now. masslawyersweekly.com/2025/10/02/n...

Congrats to James “Mac” McCreight, retired GBLS Lead Attorney & Access to Justice Fellow, on receiving the BBA’s Mary K. Ryan Achievement in Pro Bono Award for his exemplary commitment to expanding access to justice. Learn more: bostonbar.org/annual-event...

“It is a shocking revelation that the Social Security Administration has also agreed to send private taxpayer data to ICE… We had to file this case to remind both agencies that our confidentiality laws apply to them both and that their sharing is unlawful.” www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...

With the government shutdown, here’s what we know so far: - October SNAP benefits will be paid as normal; Nov updates to come. - Cash benefits (TAFDC, EAEDC) not impacted. - DTA offices open, applications & cases continue. Updates/FAQ will be posted on DTA’s site: www.mass.gov/info-details...

Today GBLS, Asian Law Caucus, and Keker, Van Nest, & Peters LLP filed a lawsuit asking for a block of the receipt and use of tax-related data by Immigration and Customs Enforcement from both the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration. www.asianlawcaucus.org/news-resourc...

Congrats to our Children's Disability Project's long-time pro bono partner Proskauer Rose, very deservedly to be honored with a 2025 Adams Pro Bono Publico Award from the SJC Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, along with other 2025 awardees, on 10/28/2025! www.mass.gov/news/supreme...

"People who were not a priority of federal immigration officials, such as those with active applications pending or court dates scheduled, are being arrested, said Maggie Morgan, managing atty of GBLS’ immigration unit. 'This is heightening people’s fears.'" www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/23/m...

It was truly harrowing and moving to hear Hernan’s wife and cousin speak about what happened and how much this community means to them. Grateful to Luce Hotline www.lucemass.org and for @bostonlegalaid.bsky.social for organizing this rally and for all they do to protect our neighbors. 2/🧵

Annery Miranda, GBLS immigration attorney: “[W]e are fighting to protect [Luiz's] constitutional rights as it relates to his detention in federal court.” www.boston.com/news/local-n...