It was the early morning of January 15 and Maria de Pilar and her children were returning from burying her husband in his hometown in Mexico. What Maria and her family did not know was that back in San Francisco, police were waiting to evict her from her Mission District apartment where she had lived since 1995.

Maria’s husband had been a longtime member of St.

Peter’s Housing Committee, and so she knew that the waiting officers had no right to evict her. She knew she had every right to stay, even when she was being told that it was illegal for her to be there. 

What she also knew was that she needed to reach out for help to fight the landlords behind the police’s actions and accusations. Maria sought out the organization that had helped her and her family in the past and came across a newly merged organization with familiar faces but a new name, Causa Justa :: Just Cause.

Maria remembers that as soon as she walked into the office, “ I knew I was in the right place, I already felt cared for and right away I was given the help I needed.” This help turned into a five-month legal battle for Maria’s right to stay in the only home she had known, but because her name was not on the original lease and her husband had passed away her right to her home was questioned. Thanks to the help of CJJC and the Eviction Defense Collaborative’s volunteer lawyers, Maria and her family won their fight.

Said Maria, “I am so grateful for all the help that I got and I want to say that we should never stay silent, we stand strong against the landlords to defend the rights to our homes.”