Two nonprofits that support Bay Area immigrant communities have started a coordinated monthly clinic in Berkeley aimed at filling gaps in legal, medical and mental health support for asylum seekers, many of whom have survived torture and other traumas in their countries of origin.
Partnerships for Trauma Recovery and East Bay Sanctuary Covenant launched the one-year pilot in the spring with funding from the California Access to Justice Commission. Now in its fourth month, the Newcomer Legal and Health Collaborative offers monthly attorney consultations to complement ongoing clinical care and case management services for local immigrants.
PTR, founded in 2016, provides in-house mental health support and forensic evaluations — including verification of female genital mutilation — to survivors of human rights abuses. Staff members said they’d become increasingly aware over the years that legal support was a missing link in their wraparound care.
The partnership with East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, which was founded in 1982 by a coalition of Bay Area churches to support Central American refugees fleeing political violence and dictatorship in their home countries, is now helping them fill that need.
East Bay Sanctuary Covenant’s reach already extends into Richmond. The organization holds free immigration clinics every third Saturday of the month at the Multicultural Institute, offering consultations with an immigration attorney, help with work permit and residency renewals, and asylum application assistance in English, Spanish and Mam. They also run a Voces Maya drop-in clinic on the first three Saturdays of each month for walk-in help with immigration, Medi-Cal and CalFresh applications.
“Through this collaboration, we are humbled to be able to support our clients with legal advice that may alleviate some of their anxieties,” PTR Executive Director Amie Latterman said in a statement. “We hope to raise funds to help us extend this pilot program as long as it is needed.”
Most of the clinic’s clients are from Spanish‑speaking countries such as Colombia and Guatemala, followed by East African nations including Eritrea. PTR provides in‑house interpretation services for those who need it.
How the clinic runs and who it serves
PTR handles scheduling and coordination for the clinic, drawing on the trust its providers have built up through long‑standing relationships. Staff members say they’ve been strategic in their community outreach in order to protect their clients — who visit the clinic from all over Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties — during a time of increased immigration enforcement activity. But even with minimal marketing, demand has been steady.
At its offices, PTR provides a calm and culturally validating space, with colorful posters and know-your-rights signs on the walls. Adults often arrive with their children, who can take a toy or a book from a small library space. The clients are given a tote bag at the end of their visit, filled with dry food items, toiletries and other essentials like diapers.
Many of the people the clinic serves arrive with deep psychological and emotional scars from their home countries, and they come to these organizations for help healing and building their asylum cases. Some have attorneys but come to the clinic seeking reassurance or a second opinion when they can’t reach their lawyers right away. Those who are unrepresented tend to face steeper challenges navigating work‑permit applications and shifting court dates.
Recursos para inmigrantes
Kaveena Singh, the director of immigration legal services at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, has helped lead PTR legal clinics this year with support from an interpreter and either a paralegal or a second attorney. Staff initially planned for 12 half-hour consultations per day but extended appointments to 45 minutes because of case complexity, and interpretation and follow-up needs.
Singh said the legal clinic runs smoothly because many clients already have relationships with clinicians at PTR who are addressing their other needs. “Those who have trauma have a whole system in place to process and work through that, which makes it more manageable to talk about the legal components,” she said.
Closing the legal-aid gap, one county over
How to get involved
Visit the Partnerships for Trauma Recovery website to learn more about current professional and volunteer opportunities, or to donate to the Berkeley clinic pilot and other services for Bay Area immigrants. PTR also maintains an Amazon wishlist for food and toiletries that are distributed to clients at no cost.
Legal resources are limited in the Bay Area, staff said, and nonprofit providers are stretched thin. The clinic pilot is an important first step to connecting patients with support services, they said, but the long-term goal is to transition to a permanent, in-house legal provider.
Richmond has been moving on a parallel track.
The Richmond City Council has allocated up to $1 million for immigrant legal assistance and know-your-rights outreach, delivered through partnerships with at least three qualified organizations — including East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. Contra Costa County residents facing immigration enforcement can also reach Stand Together Contra Costa, a county-backed rapid-response and legal-services line, at 925-900-5151.
PTR also partners with other organizations in the Bay Area, such as the Alameda Health System and the Human Rights Clinic at Highland Hospital in Oakland, which provides forensic medical evaluations to about 300 patients each year. Members of PTR’s team said they wanted to provide additional services and resources because mental health support alone is not enough when clients are hungry and feeling anxious about their legal cases.
“Healing from trauma does not happen in isolation,” PTR managing director Biruktawit Bekele said in a statement. “By bringing legal guidance alongside mental health and psychosocial care in a familiar, trusted space, we’re helping ensure that people who have already endured so much don’t have to navigate another complex system alone.”
