The Boston Bar Foundation (BBF) today announced $1,052,500 in grants to 25 legal services providers. With a significant decline in Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) funds, only 75 percent of each grant will come from IOLTA funds. The remaining 22 percent will come from the proceeds of the BBF’s 2010 Adams Ball and 3 percent from the proceeds of the BBF’s Casey Fund.
“These are challenging economic times,” said BBF President Shaw McDermott. “Resources from IOLTA have been limited by the combined factors of the decline in business transactions and extraordinarily low interest rates. The BBF has stretched to add its own additional resources to the funding mix. Yet, in this environment a decision to say ‘yes’ to one grant proposal of necessity involves a decision to say ‘no’ to another. Fortunately the BBF Grants Committee is blessed with highly skilled and experienced volunteers who make their recommendations based on a screening and evaluation process honed over decades.”
Among the grantees are core legal services providers, so-called multi-issue providers where legal services are just one component of a comprehensive menu of services provided to low-income people, and organizations focusing on single issues such as housing, education, domestic violence or immigration.
“Each year, we make very tough decisions based on our knowledge of the legal services landscape and thorough research of relevant issues,” said BBF Grants Committee chair Toni Wolfman. “We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that this money is being distributed in a manner that will most effectively provide critically important legal services to low-income families, children and individuals in the Boston Area.”
Organization | Amount |
Boston Medical Center Corporation | $20,000 |
Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc. | $20,000 |
Centro Presente, Inc. | $10,000 |
Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, Inc. | $10,000 |
City Life/ Vida Urbana | $20,000 |
Community Legal Services and Counseling Center, Inc. | $45,000 |
East Boston Ecumenical Council, Inc. | $7,500 |
Finex House, Inc. | $5,000 |
Greater Boston Legal Services | $375,000 |
Irish Immigration Center | $25,000 |
Lawyers Clearinghouse | $30,000 |
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the BBA | $40,000 |
Legal Advocacy Resource Center | $175,000 |
Massachusetts Advocates for Children | $15,000 |
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health | $20,000 |
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute | $35,000 |
MetroWest Legal Services | $50,000 |
Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc. | $15,000 |
Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project | $35,000 |
Prisoners’ Legal Services | $35,000 |
RESPOND, Inc. | $10,000 |
Shelter Legal Services | $10,000 |
Tri-City Community Action Program, Inc. | $10,000 |
Victims Rights Law Center | $10,000 |
Women’s Bar Foundation | $25,000 |
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Total | $1,052,500 |
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