After losing its largest funder, Memphis Area Legal Services has named a new CEO, who says the organization will continue to provide the same legal services to low-income Memphians it has for years.
Meanwhile, West Tennessee Legal Services has begun offering similar services in the city, using the funding MALS lost. The Jackson-based organization has named a Memphis-based deputy director and has begun hiring dozens of local employees.
Both organizations are in transition — with one learning to operate with less funding and new leadership, and the other finalizing an office lease and learning a new community. However, they’re both hopeful the changes ultimately will lead to better legal aid for Memphis’ most vulnerable residents.
“I believe that there is a place for both Memphis Area Legal Services and West Tennessee Legal Services moving forward,” said new MALS CEO Nicole Grida. “We can actually end up serving more people. … I don’t see it as an ‘us versus them.’ I see it as a way for, ultimately, the citizens of Shelby, Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale counties, to receive more services.”
Story continues below legal help information.
Low on funds and need free legal help?
Both MALS and WTLS now offer a variety of free legal services to Memphians living under or near the poverty line.
To request help from MALS, call (901) 523-8822. To request help from WTLS, call (901) 471-8006 or visit wtls.org.
Here are some examples of the legal issues they may be able to help you with:
- Benefits (Supplemental Security Income (SSI), TennCare, Medicaid, Unemployment Compensation, Veterans benefits, Food Stamps (SNAP), etc.)
- Housing (Unfair treatment from landlords, Section 8 vouchers, foreclosures, mortgage default, housing discrimination, wrongful evictions, etc.)
- Protection from corporations (Debt collection harassment, garnishments, student loans, car purchases, etc.)
- Elder Law (benefits, healthcare, wills, etc.)
- Family Law (divorce, custody, etc.)
Earlier this year, the Legal Service Corp. — a nonprofit funded and overseen by Congress — decided to stop funding MALS and send its funds tied to Shelby, Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale counties to WTLS. At the time, LSC president Ron Flagg told MLK50 that MALS had been providing “inadequate” service to low-income Memphians for years.
It was a huge blow to MALS, which provided free civil legal services to almost 2,600 low-income adults in 2023. At more than $1.7 million per year, LSC funding made up about 40% of MALS’ 2023 budget.
Grida, though, said she’s confident MALS’ services to Memphians will improve, not dissipate, under her leadership. She plans on making the organization more efficient, building new partnerships and employing new technology.
“We’re still here,” she said. “We’re still available to take (clients’) cases, and … we’re committed to providing legal excellence in advocating for them and their needs.”
Grida has been an attorney in Memphis since 2006, working for insurance firms, law firms and International Paper. She has served on the board of directors for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services since 2019 and sat on the MALS board for the nine months before her hire.
She said finding new funding and solidifying existing grants will be her top initial priority. MALS recently submitted an application to LSC, asking the federal funder to restore the cash MALS has long counted on, starting in 2025.
However, WTLS has also applied for the 2025 LSC funding tied to Shelby, Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale counties and is operating in hopes it will hold onto the huge grant.
“We feel confident that we’re going to establish ourselves in the community and show that … the quality of services we provide (is) needed in this community,” said Ashley Holiday, WTLS executive director.
By the end of the year, Holiday plans to hire around 20 new employees to serve Shelby and its neighboring counties—most of whom, she hopes, will be existing Shelby County residents. Eventually, she expects the Memphis office to grow as large as the organization’s Jackson office.
“We’re not going to do this from Jackson,” she said. “We have no intention to provide service remotely.”
While in the midst of hiring, Holiday said area residents may have to “bear with” the organization a bit. However, she said the organization’s hotline — (901) 471-8006 — is staffed and ready to go, and that her team prides itself on its responsiveness. Anyone who calls them, she said, will receive a callback.
When it makes sense, Holiday said her team will refer clients to MALS. However, she said she doesn’t yet have a good sense of the scope of services MALS will still be able to provide with its reduced funding.
“I don’t have a good picture of what they’re offering,” she said.
Holiday said her organization and MALS are caught in a “unique” situation as they compete for LSC funding and provide similar services. LSC rarely cuts partner organizations’ funding. And Holiday didn’t even know MALS might lose the grant until earlier this year, when LSC asked her if she’d be interested in receiving it.
Like Grida, she’s hopeful the two organizations will be able to work together well to serve Memphis.
“We see this as long term,” Holiday said. “We’re committed to the community.”
Jacob Steimer is the housing and development reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email him at Jacob.Steimer@mlk50.com
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