The Homeless Persons Representation Project, a legal services provider and advocacy group dedicated to defending people facing housing insecurity, will shutter its practice after more than 30 years in business, the organization said Thursday.

In a news release, the group blamed the closure on insufficient cash reserves and a decline in unrestricted grant funding. It does not have enough money to finish out the current budget year, according to the release, and is expected to dissolve before June.

Founded in 1987 as a pro bono extension of the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Services, HPRP earned nonprofit status in 1990. From there, it became an independent source of expertise on homelessness and housing policy as well as in other areas that cause people to lose access to their homes in the first place.

“Our staff supported Marylanders who live under the most traumatic, stressful circumstances,” legal director Carolyn Johnson said in a Thursday statement.

Johnson said the small staff used its collective strengths to help people navigate the “hurdles” obstructing their basic rights. That includes the systems of food and cash assistance, health care, employment, education and the justice system.

The team closed around 800 to 900 cases a year, according to a Thursday news release, many of them related to eviction prevention, public benefits access and expungement of past charges and convictions. Staff members used a roving office mentality, meeting with clients where they were, even if that meant on the streets.

“We were resources for clients when and where they needed us,” Johnson said, “at shelters, in outreach centers and during off hours.”

In all, HPRP estimated having provided free legal representation in as many as 8,000 cases, many of them by pro bono attorneys. They count as many as 5,200 expunged records, 759 successfully secured public benefits and $2.5 million in recovered benefits among their wins.

They also helped craft public policy and raised awareness of the ripple effects of homelessness long before much of society even acknowledged it as a problem, said Kevin Lindamood, CEO of Health Care for the Homeless.

“They raised client voices ... and helped secure housing, services and justice for countless Marylanders,” Lindamood said in a statement.

Among HPRP’s achievements was a permanent injunction in a 2009 case ensuring the Maryland Department of Human Services complied with federal and state laws with timely benefits application processing. It pushed for people with disabilities to have equal access to public benefits and services, too.

The group said it also played a role in securing the voluntary compliance agreement between Baltimore County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, filing with partner organizations a complaint against the county for systematically discriminating against Black households, people with disabilities and families with children. The county has since been tasked with creating 1,000 new affordably-priced units in resource-rich areas and investing in its housing stock, with about two years left to meet its goals.

HPRP helped pass laws banning source-of-income discrimination in four jurisdictions in 2019, and then statewide housing protections in 2020 called the Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act. It studied and convened partners to address the intersection of homelessness and children; expanded the use of tuition waivers at Maryland public colleges; amended the state’s expungement laws to encompass more people; and advocated strongly against the clearance of homeless encampments.

More recently, HPRP helped champion the Prevent Electronic Benefits Theft Act of 2023 to help those whose benefits went missing due to electronic skimming, ensuring they could get reimbursed. The organization has also been a fierce advocate for people whose rents and other bills fell through the cracks while being managed by city-supported nonprofit organizations.

Public tax filings show the nonprofit’s financial struggles over the last few years. In the budget year that ended in June 2020, the organization reported earning about $14,000 in profit. It then slipped into a negative balance, and then recovered with a positive, $123,000 balance in the year that ended in June 2022. For the year that ended in June 2023, for which the latest disclosure form is available, the group had about $50,000 left on hand after expenses.

All the while, the forms state, the group’s expenses continued to grow. It raised a vast majority of its funds, around 94%, from public support, including from law firms, foundations and individual donors.

Staff members are working on transition plans for their clients and cases, the news release said. It acknowledged that while no similar organization exists, other nonprofit organizations may expand their services to provide legal counsel and support for people facing homelessness.

The organization closed its Silver Spring office Jan. 16. It plans to close its Baltimore office over the next few months, according to the news release. Johnson, the legal director, was not immediately reached for additional comment.