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Explore the topics on the right to understand different types of cases we handle and find appropriate links to resources from other agencies. Most of our clients are low income residents of Cook County, although for some special programs we serve a broader geographical area. But if you are HIV+ and live anywhere in Illinois, please feel free to call us with your legal questions. We will try to answer them. If we cannot, we’ll try to direct you to others who can.
The AIDS Legal Council provides legal assistance in cases where an individual’s HIV status, real or perceived, is the cause of his or her legal difficulties. We assist clients with discrimination cases, insurance disputes, return-to-work questions and confidentiality issues. We help those who come to us because they are too ill to work and need assistance applying for public benefits. We provide legal help to immigrants with HIV who want to normalize their status in the United States. And we help clients who need to write wills, powers of attorney or guardianships to guarantee that their loved ones will be cared for in case of serious illness or death.
At ALCC, we still hear of employers who believe that people with HIV are a danger in the workplace, health providers who test people for HIV without their permission and nursing homes that turn clients away because they are living with HIV. We intervene for these HIV-affected clients, demanding what they are entitled to and restoring their dignity.
We also hear of gay-run businesses denying health care coverage to employees with HIV because they are afraid that it will cost too much. We see sixth-grade dropouts with schizophrenia who need help navigating the bureaucracy of Social Security so they can get the benefits needed to pay for food and shelter. We meet with clients from all over the world who need help with petitions for asylum and HIV-waivers because it would be far too dangerous for them to return home. We provide legal services for these types of cases and others that are caused by a person’s HIV-positive status.
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