REGIONAL HOUSING LEGAL SERVICES
2 SOUTH EASTON ROAD, GLENSIDE, PA 190383423 www.rhls.org

---

Organizations Filed Purposes: REGIONAL HOUSING LEGAL SERVICES WORKS TO CREATE HOUSING AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND TO EFFECT SYSTEMATIC CHANGE FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOWER-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS STATEWIDE. WITHIN THAT, PULP'S MISSION IS TO ASSIST PENNSYLVANIA'S LOW-INCOME RESIDENTIAL UTILITY AND ENERGY CONSUMERS TO CONNECT AND MAINTAIN AFFORDABLE UTILITY AND ENERGY SERVICES WITHIN THEIR HOMES.

REGIONAL HOUSING LEGAL SERVICES WORKS TO CREATE HOUSING AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES IN PENNSYLVANIA AND TO EFFECT SYSTEMATIC CHANGE FOR THE BENEFIT OF LOWER-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS STATEWIDE.

REGIONAL HOUSING LEGAL SERVICES IS A NONPROFIT LAW FIRM WITH UNIQUE EXPERTISE IN AFFORDABLE, SUSTAINABLE HOUSING AND ITS RELATED COMPONENTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UTILITY MATTERS AND PRESERVATION OF HOMEOWNERSHIP. RHLS PROVIDES INNOVATIVE PROJECT AND POLICY SOLUTIONS THAT HELP CREATE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES OFFERING DECENT, SAFE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR LOWER-INCOME PENNSYLVANIANS.OUR SERVICES INCLUDE: 1) DEVELOPMENT SERVICES. WE PROVIDE TECHNICAL AND LEGAL ASSISTANCE TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ENGAGED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING OR COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES. WE HAVE ASSISTED IN THE PLANNING AND FINANCING OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS WORTH OVER $1.3 BILLION, CREATING AND PRESERVING NEARLY 9,000 AFFORDABLE HOUSING RENTAL DWELLINGS ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA. 2) POLICY. RHLS DEDICATES A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF ITS PRACTICE TO OVERCOMING SYSTEMIC BARRIERS FACING LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS. OUR EXPERIENCED ATTORNEYS ANALYZE PUBLIC POLICY AND SYSTEMIC ELEMENTS WITH THE BENEFIT OF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE AND RICH EXPERIENCE, QUICKLY IDENTIFYING CRITICAL ISSUES AND PINPOINTING UNMET NEEDS. RHLS'S POLICY WORK HAS HELPED STABILIZE AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS THROUGH INCREASED ACCESS TO WEATHERIZATION; GENERATED NEW RESOURCES THAT ALLOWED AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF AFFORDABLE UNITS FOR VERY LOW-INCOME, VULNERABLE INDIVIDUALS; AND SECURED CHANGES TO STATE POLICY DESIGNED TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF ACCESSIBLE UNITS BEING BUILT. MOST RECENTLY, RHLS HAS DEDICATED SIGNIFICANT TIME AND RESOURCES TO ADDRESSING ISSUES ARISING FROM COVID-19 RELATED TO HOUSING, IN ADDITION TO THE LONG-RANGE WORK PROMOTING STABLE, AFFORDABLE, AND HEALTHY HOUSING ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA.

THE PENNSYLVANIA UTILITY LAW PROJECT ("PULP") IS A SPECIALIZED LEGAL AID PROGRAM HOUSED WITHIN THE RHLS' ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE. AS THE DESIGNATED SPECIALIZED PROJECT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA LEGAL AID NETWORK FOR UTILITY ISSUES, PULP'S MISSION IS TO ASSIST PENNSYLVANIA'S LOW-INCOME RESIDENTIAL UTILITY AND ENERGY CONSUMERS CONNECT TO AND MAINTAIN AFFORDABLE UTILITY AND ENERGY SERVICES WITHIN THEIR HOME.PULP'S ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:REPRESENTING, AS DIRECT COUNSEL OR CO-COUNSEL, QUALIFYING LOW-INCOME RESIDENTIAL UTILITY CUSTOMERS OR ORGANIZATIONS COMPRISED PRIMARILY OF LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS.REPRESENTING THE INTERESTS OF LOW-INCOME, RESIDENTIAL UTILITY CONSUMERS BEFORE THE PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION, THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, AND OTHER STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES DEALING WITH ENERGY OR UTILITY MATTERS THAT AFFECT LOW-INCOME PENNSYLVANIANS. PROVIDING INFORMATION, TRAINING, AND SUPPORT TO LEGAL AID, NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY GROUPS; AND LOW-INCOME CONSUMERS ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA.PULP ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDE:THROUGHOUT THE PAST YEAR, PULP HANDLED APPROXIMATELY 25 CASES INVOLVING COMPLEX REPRESENTATION AND LITIGATION BEFORE THE PA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION, INCLUDING SEVERAL CASES TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF FUNDING DEDICATED TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY, AS WELL AS 150 OTHER CASES. AS AN EXAMPLE OF PULP'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING THIS TIME, MORE THAN $1.2 MILLION ADDITIONAL DOLLARS PER YEAR WILL BE DEDICATED TO WEATHERIZING AND IMPROVING THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF THE HOMES OF LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, AND AN ADDITIONAL $700,000 OF ONE-TIME FUNDS WILL BE DEDICATED TO REMEDYING DE FACTO ELECTRIC HEATING, INCLUDING HEATING HOMES WITH SPACE HEATERS AND OVENS.THROUGHOUT THE PAST YEAR, PULP CONTINUED TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE FOUR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PARTNER PROGRAMS MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO ACHIEVE SIGNIFICANT RESULTS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SEEKING TO HAVE THEIR UTILITY SERVICE RESTORED OR TERMINATION OF THAT SERVICE PREVENTED. AS A RESULT OF THIS ADVOCACY, PULP ACHIEVED THE FOLLOWING RESULTS:*RECONNECTED OR STOPPED TERMINATION FOR 25 UTILITY ACCOUNTS, *CLEARED OR DEFERRED OVER $35,000 IN CLIENT UTILITY DEBT, *GRANT ASSISTANCE IN THE AMOUNT OF $6,800 WAS OBTAINED FOR CLIENTS, *OBTAINED WAIVER OF MORE THAN $2,200 IN RECONNECTION FEES/SECURITY DEPOSITS FOR CLIENTS,*REFERRED ALL CLIENTS FOR ENROLLMENT IN UTILITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AND/OR LIHEAP.

---

---

Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202022839349300307_public.xml