Her landlord filed suit to evict her. “There was no way I could go before the judge because I don’t know the law,” Swinton says. Enter Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE), an AARP affiliate dedicated to providing older D.C. residents with free legal services.

LCE started working with Swinton in February 2023. After months of legal work Swinton, now 65, was able to stay in her apartment and pay off her debt. LCE also made sure she received financial assistance from D.C.’s Housing Counseling Services and the nonprofit Bread for the City. “Having information about my rights was crucial,” she says. “It allowed me to stay in my home.”

Since it was created in 1975, LCE has championed the rights of thousands of older D.C. residents. The nonprofit’s priority is to ensure that they can age in place with dignity through key focus areas: housing, economic security, self-determination, and health and safety.

“We have relationships throughout the city with different community organizations to make sure that people are taken care of,” says Rhonda Cunningham Holmes, LCE’s executive director.

At LCE, about 70 attorneys, social workers and other staff members help prevent evictions and foreclosures, obtain public and veterans benefits, prepare wills and powers of attorneys, assist with probates, advocate for residents in long-term care facilities, and protect older Washingtonians against Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

Alicia Collins, now 63, asked LCE for help when she was hit by an enormous bill from the Social Security Administration (SSA). After her marriage in 2018, Collins, who was receiving Social Security benefits because of a disability, informed the SSA that her status had changed. But she kept being paid as single —which led to a monthly overpayment of about $600. In 2021, SSA came after her for close to $14,000. But through LCE's intervention the debt was waived.

Within the last three years, LCE secured about $80 million in benefits for its clients. In 2024, the nonprofit handled nearly 7,000 cases.

LCE also plays a key role in advocating for older Washingtonians before the D.C. City Council, including for those in long-term care facilities. And in 2014, LCE’s advocacy resulted in greater protections against foreclosures for homeowners.

LCE represents only D.C. residents who are 60 or older and live with an income equivalent to 250 percent or less of the federal poverty level, or $39,125 in 2025. However, all D.C. residents 60 or older can receive legal advice and referrals through the LCE Legal Hotline at 202-434-2120.

For more information about the program, visit aarp.org/LCE. —Elise Ceyral