AARP Charity Marks 50 years of Helping Older D.C. Residents

When District of Columbia resident Ingrid Swinton got an eviction notice in September 2022, she didn’t know how she would be able to fight it without a lawyer—something she could not afford.

“I really didn’t know my rights,” says Swinton, 65, a retired secretary who lives in an apartment in Northwest D.C. She worried she’d end up in a hotel room, with her furniture in storage.

Enter Legal Counsel for the Elderly, an AARP charitable affiliate that provides free legal and social work services to low-income D.C. residents 60 and older. In addition to fighting evictions and foreclosures, LCE helps Washingtonians prepare wills, handle probate cases, and obtain veterans’ and other public benefits. It also advocates for long-term care residents.

This year marks LCE’s 50th anniversary. The organization has launched a three-year campaign to raise $1 million and is planning a series of events to mark the anniversary, including a year-end celebration.

“Our mission is really to stand up for the dignity and rights of Washington, D.C., elders,” says Executive Director Rhonda Cunningham Holmes. LCE focuses on “the most important aspects of an older adult’s life,” she adds, including housing, economic security, health, safety and self-determination.

The organization got its start as a pilot project in 1975, when AARP received a federal grant to help determine if volunteers—supervised by attorneys—could cost-effectively provide legal services to older, low-income residents in D.C. Now, LCE’s 71-person staff works with hundreds of volunteers to take on roughly 4,500 cases each year—the majority of which begin with a call to its hotline.

Swinton contacted LCE after receiving a notice that she owed her landlord more than $2,000. She had kept up with her rent but fallen behind on parking and other fees.

Swinton’s LCE attorney, Sarah Cho, spent hours talking with her about the situation and communicating with the management company. Cho got the case moved to mediation and helped Swinton negotiate a payment plan.

“I was able to settle my case and stay in my apartment,” she says. “Without this help, I don’t know where I would be right now.”

Holmes says LCE’s priorities for its next chapter include addressing Washington’s affordable housing crisis by pushing for robust funding for D.C.’s rental assistance program and other actions. “Every single day we’re trying to make a difference, and we are succeeding,” she says.

To learn more about LCE’s work, visit aarp.org/lce. For assistance, call the LCE Legal Hotline at 202-434-2120.

—Michelle Cerulli McAdams