Get Involved

LCBH mobilizes donors and volunteers to protect renters facing eviction and housing instability.

Standing for Renters’ Rights.

LCBH is Chicago’s only legal-aid organization that focuses solely on housing justice issues. We provide free legal assistance and supportive services for low-and moderate-income renters facing eviction. Your gift is an investment in fairness and justice. Working together, we can make Chicago more equitable.

To donate online to LCBH click the button below.

DONATE

Mailing a Donation

Please help LCBH advocate for tenants by sending your tax-deductible gift to:

Law Center for Better Housing
c/o Allen Hailey
100 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2500
Chicago, IL 60602

Planned Giving

A planned gift to Law Center for Better Housing in your estate or long-term financial plan ensures access to free legal and supportive services. Learn more about ways to make a lasting impact on LCBH here. If you have questions, please contact Allen Hailey at [email protected].

Cy pres Donations

LCBH welcomes cy pres, as well as court settlement awards. Please keep LCBH in mind when directing a cy pres or court settlement award. For further information, contact LCBH’s Executive Director Mark Swartz at (312) 784-3520, or [email protected].

Recurring Giving

Becoming a monthly donor is a convenient way to donate to those in need with powerful results. Your steady support lets us prepare for every challenge and plan for the future.

Giving by your DAF

Contribute through your DAF by submitting a grant request. Log in to your Donor-Advised Fund account or contact your Donor-Advised Fund provider to submit a grant request.

Submit your request to:

Law Center for Better Housing

Tax ID#: 36-3134577

Events

Every year, LCBH holds networking and fundraising events where you can meet our team and support housing justice!

Sponsorship Opportunities

LCBH event sponsorship opportunities are available at various levels and can be tailored to fit your specific needs or requests. For more information, please contact our Development and Communications Director Allen Hailey at [email protected].

Download our 2026 Partnership Packet

Secure your tickets: 2026 LCBH Fall Benefit

Join the Law Center for Better Housing on Thursday, October 15th, at our 2026 Fall Benefit, celebrating the housing heroes protecting renters and preserving communities!

Enjoy delicious food, live music, and networking at Chicago’s legendary blues club, Buddy Guy’s Legends (700 S. Wabash), while we honor people and organizations working together to advance and enforce renters’ rights to keep more families stably housed! 

Don’t wait to purchase your tickets! The early bird sale ends 09/15/2026. 

EARLY BIRD TICKETS

LCBH Ambassadors Board

LCBH Ambassadors Board members advance LCBH's mission through raising awareness and resources that support our free services throughout Chicago and Cook County.
As a LCBH Ambassador, you can help advance LCBH’s mission in several ways. Current Ambassadors have participated in eviction sealing clinics, volunteered with our Rentervention program, assisted with fundraising events, and helped recruit new members. A few hours of volunteering can make a big difference in a renter’s life.

INTERESTED IN JOINING?

The Ambassadors Board includes members from various professional backgrounds who are passionate about housing justice and defending renters’ rights. If you’re interested in learning more about LCBH’s Ambassadors Board, please complete the form below. We are committed to expanding the Ambassadors Board to include members who are connected to the communities we serve. 

Interest Form

AMBASSADORS BOARD SUBCOMMITTEES

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Community Engagement

This committee needs your creative ideas to raise awareness around LCBH’s services. Members assist with LCBH legal clinics and other outreach opportunities. 

Pro Bono Support

LCBH reaches more renters when it has more volunteers. This committee helps to raise awareness about LCBH’s need for pro bono volunteers. Committee members may volunteer themselves, as well as help recruiting other volunteers.

Fundraising Support

This committee helps plan fundraising events throughout the year. They also assist with planning and promoting LCBH’s annual Bringing Justice Home Fall Benefit.

Volunteer

When you volunteer with the Law Center for Better Housing (LCBH), you see the direct impact that your efforts, and your time and skills, have in the lives of renters who live in the city of Chicago
As a volunteer with LCBH, you ensure renters have an advocate by their side who believes in housing justice.

You will also develop important litigation skills, learn a new area of law, and create new professional relationships. LCBH volunteer opportunities are flexible and designed to accommodate your busy schedule. Volunteer in-person at LCBH’s legal clinics or from the comfort of your desk through Rentervention’s virtual clinic, either way, LCBH will provide ongoing training and support. Learn more:

 

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LCBH often needs attorneys who have the capacity and resources, from their firms or otherwise, to take on more complex, affirmative litigation cases in a variety of topic areas. The most common types of cases are illegal lockouts where a landlord has unlawfully dispossessed a tenant from their home, usually by self-help tactics like shutting off utilities, changing locks, etc.

Qualifications: IL Licensed Attorney

Skills: Litigation experience preferred

Setting: In-person or Remote. Most of the relevant courts are remote and virtual, but some court dates may be in-person.

Level of Time Commitment: High. Matters can take approximately 15+ hours over many months

Affirmative Litigation

LCBH often needs attorneys who have the capacity and resources, from their firms or otherwise, to take on more complex, affirmative litigation cases in a variety of topic areas. The most common types of cases are illegal lockouts where a landlord has unlawfully dispossessed a tenant from their home, usually by self-help tactics like shutting off utilities, changing locks, etc.

Qualifications: IL Licensed Attorney

Skills: Litigation experience preferred

Setting: In-person or Remote. Most of the relevant courts are remote and virtual, but some court dates may be in-person.

Time Commitment: High. Matters can take approximately 15+ hours over many months

Eviction Defense Co-Counsel

Co-counsel with an LCBH attorney to defend a tenant in eviction court and help stabilize their housing. Most eviction matters will involve settlement negotiations with opposing counsel and advising tenants on the eviction process. This is a great opportunity for transactional attorneys who are new to litigation. For volunteers who are interested in more intensive litigation, some matters may also involve motion practice, discovery, affirmative litigation, and trial.

Qualifications: IL Licensed Attorney

Skills: Client communication, negotiation with adverse parties, simple to complex litigation skills (depending on the case).

Setting: Mostly remote. Eviction court is currently remote and virtual, but some court dates may be in-person.

Time Commitment: Medium to High. Depending on the case and level of service, eviction matters can take approximately 3 to 10+ over 1-3+ months

Rentervention

Provide brief advice and brief services, such as drafting letters to landlords, for tenants who experience poor conditions or other threats to their housing. For example, volunteers might help a tenant draft a 14-day letter under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance to help a tenant demand their landlord make necessary repairs. This is a great opportunity for volunteers who are looking for a shorter time commitment, that is entirely remote, and that does not involve litigation.

Qualifications: IL Licensed Attorney or Law Students

Skills: Client communication, writing, and research skills

Setting: Remote

Time Commitment: Low to Medium. Hours vary.

Interested in Volunteering?

If you are an Illinois attorney interested in volunteering with LCBH, please complete our Volunteer Interest Form and we’ll be in touch. Unable to access the form? Please email [email protected], to inquire about volunteer opportunities.

Current Volunteer

Rentervention volunteers needing to access Clio, can log in here.

Clio Login

Helpful Links

Recent Volunteer Stories

See all of our Volunteer Stories.

View All Stories

Grants and Special Projects

LCBH couldn’t fulfill its mission without the generous support of private foundations, corporations, and law firms.

Grants and Special Projects

These contributors support LCBH’s general operations and programs. Recent examples include:
  • BMO
  • Blowitz-Ridgeway Foundation
  • Community Investment Corporation
  • Community Memorial Foundation
  • Crowell & Moring LLP
  • Cuore e Mani Foundation
  • Equal Justice Works
  • Helen V. Brach Foundation
  • Illinois Bar Foundation
  • Illinois Equal Justice Foundation
  • Impact Grants Chicago
  • Jenner & Block LLP
  • Jones Day
  • Lakeside Bank
  • Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois
  • McGuireWoods LLP
  • Nicor

Northern Trust Fund, a Fund of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation

  • Old National Bank
  • Qlik
  • Polk Bros. Foundation
  • Raila & Associates
  • Rossotti Family Foundation
  • Sidley Austin Foundation
  • Steptoe Foundation
  • The Chicago Bar Foundation
  • The Chicago Community Trust
  • United Healthcare Group
  • United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
  • Wells Fargo Foundation
  • Winnetka Congregational Church

Special Projects

LCBH receives grants and sub-grants from government agencies to provide direct services to Chicago area renters. Additionally, we receive funding from private foundations to deliver a unique service or participate in programs focused on a specific target population or community area.

 
Recent examples include:

All Chicago Making Homelessness History
State Homeless Prevention Funds Program

Chicago Foundation for Women
Englewood Women’s Initiative

City of Chicago Department of Family and Supportive Services
Homelessness Prevention

City of Chicago Department of Housing
Right to Counsel Pilot Program

City of Chicago 
Eviction-Related Legal Services

City of Chicago 
Tenants’ Rights and Responsibilities 

City of Evanston
Landlords and Tenants Guidance/Mediation

Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt
Early Resolution Program

Illinois Department of Human Services
Eviction Help Illinois

Illinois Department of Human Services
Access to Justice Program

Illinois Department of Human Services
America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Housing Support Program

PCC Community Wellness
Medical Legal Partnership (MLP)

Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI)
Fellowship Program