The Boston Bar Foundation (BBF) today announced that it has made grants totaling $1 million to 24 Massachusetts community organizations providing legal services in areas such as immigration, domestic violence and homelessness. Approximately half the funds came from Interest on Lawyers Trust Account revenues, with the remainder coming from the BBF’s Adams Benefit, BBF Reserves and other BBF fundraising efforts.
“The Foundation’s ability to fund these important organizations was made possible by the generous contributions of the greater legal community,” said BBF President John Donovan. “The grants we announce today are the direct result of the commitment and generosity of lawyers, law firms and business people supporting the mission of the Boston Bar Foundation. Over the past several years, as resources for legal services have dwindled to dangerous levels, the Boston Bar Foundation has made millions of dollars in grants to continue to fund vital services. That means evicted tenants, the homeless, foreclosed homeowners, immigrants, and victims of violence have had representation. Youth have found summer jobs. And advocates for the underrepresented have kept their voices. That’s what the Boston Bar Foundation and the Boston Bar Association are all about: lawyers fulfilling their professional obligations and serving justice by lending a hand in their own communities.”
The Boston Bar Foundation grants committee, composed of lawyers with an in depth understanding of the community as well as the expertise and credibility to maximize the impact of a limited sum of money, meticulously evaluated each and every grant application. The goal was to distribute the funds to organizations capable of making the greatest impact on people in need of legal aid in the Boston area.
The following organizations received grants ranging from $4,900 to $375,000:
Brazilian Immigrant Center
Casa Myrna Vazquez
Centro Presente
Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts
City Life/Vida Urbana
Community Legal Services and Counseling Center
East Boston Ecumenical Community Council
Finex House, Inc
Greater Boston Legal Services
Irish International Immigrant Center
Lawyers Clearinghouse on Affordable Housing and Homelessness
Legal Advocacy & Resource Center, Inc.
Massachusetts Advocates for Children
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Medical-Legal Partnership Boston
MetroWest Legal Services, Inc.
Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project
Prisoners’ Legal Services
RESPOND, Inc.
Shelter Legal Services Foundation, Inc.
Tri-City Community Action Program, Inc.
Women’s Bar Foundation
