2021 Grants
The Louisville Bar Foundation awarded $169,000 in grants for 19 law-related programs in the Louisville area in 2021. Grant recipients are mobilizing to help individuals navigate the unemployment benefits process, establish permanent legal status for immigrants, design safety plans for domestic violence victims, and to offer protection for abused children or seniors. Our profession is helping in these times through our collective gifts to the Foundation.
Grants are made possible by the generosity of Louisville area lawyers and law firms. Since its founding in 1982, the Foundation has distributed more than $3.1 million in grant funds. For more information on the LBF’s grants process or to make a charitable contribution in support of the LBF’s grantmaking activities, contact Jeff Been at 292-6734 or jbeen@loubar.org.
Bellewood and Brooklawn – Child Welfare and Court Collaborations – $3,000
Bellewood and Brooklawn (formerly Uspiritus) serve children who need intensive support to overcome the effects of abuse, neglect, homelessness or other trauma, with the goal of helping the youth become stable, self-sufficient adults. Therapists, case managers and program directors attend more than 500 court proceedings each year. These appearances involve hearings regarding the youth’s custody status, termination of parental rights and charges facing the youth. LBF funds will support coordination of these efforts among the various staff involved and travel expenses.
Catholic Charities of Louisville – Fee Waiver Program --$12,500
Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services helps low-income refugees and immigrants living in Kentucky obtain legal assistance. The LBF grant will allow refugees and immigrants solve immigration and/or employment status issues so to achieve or maintain financial stability and economic independence.
CASA of the River Region – Advocacy Academy - $10,000
CASA provides advocacy services to children with active cases in Family Court. To increase the number of volunteer advocates, CASA must continually train and provide continuing education. The LBF grant will support CASA’s “Advocacy Academy” program and increase its number of trainings to boost volunteers’ advocacy skillset and the understanding of interrelated child welfare, justice and medical systems.
Children’s Law Center – Louisville Academic Pro Se Education - $1,000
CLC provides advocacy services on behalf of students in the educational setting. The LAPSE project will educate parents, guardians and caregivers to become stronger advocates for their school aged children who struggle with learning because of loss of educational services due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The grant will fund the development of easy to understand informational materials. CLC will conduct a series of weekly classes in the west end of Louisville to teach parents how to address these issues in order to ensure their children receive compensatory education and other types of educational services to which they are legally entitled.
ElderServe – Crime Victim Services – $15,000
With a mission to empower older adults to live independently and with dignity, ElderServe offers a variety of programs, including Crime Victims Services which is designed to reduce the barriers to accessing the justice system by older crime victims. Advocates support the victims in criminal court, family court and guardianship court. Advocates also assist victims of domestic violence in filing for emergency protective orders. LBF funds will be used to provide transportation to and from court, for program supplies, and other essentials.
Family & Children’s Place – Child Advocacy Center – $8,000
The Child Advocacy Center at the Family and Children’s Place is the only facility of its kind in Kentucky providing services to child victims up to age 17 with compassionate, coordinated intervention and investigation of child sex abuse. The LBF grant will be used to pay expenses for a highly trained forensic interviewer to record a child’s testimony and lab kits used to gather and preserve evidence for later use at trial in prosecuting child sexual offenses.
Friends of the Jefferson County Public Law Library -- Fresh Start Program -- $5,500
As a service to the community, the Jefferson County Public Law Library offers free expungement services to financially eligible participants who are able to have records expunged. The program assigns an attorney to review the paperwork which clients complete and to file it in court. LBF funds will provide for clients to have court costs covered and to receive free legal assistance.
Goodwill Industries – Reintegrating Individuals Successfully Everyday – $3,500
Goodwill helps adults with disabilities or other disadvantages achieve and maintain employment. Its Reintegrating Individuals Successfully Everyday (RISE) program helps participants recently released from incarceration achieve employment by removing legal barriers to employment. Case managers work with participants in identifying and resolving issues involving child support, evictions, criminal record expungements and wage garnishments that may impede successful re-entry into the workforce.
The Healing Place - Peer Mentor Program - $3,5000
Many of the clients who come to the Healing Place for addiction recovery are involved in the Jefferson County Court System. The Peer mentor Program at The Healing Place enlists men and women who have completed the program to serve as role models and mentors for those newer participants. These peer mentors provide one-on-one counseling and support. In particular, peer mentors help participants comply with court dates, court orders and other issues related to the justice system. LBF funds will support the Peer Mentor Program as it increases the chances of a participant's successful recovery and the efficient resolution of court issues.
Kentucky Equal Justice Center –Outreach for Renter Empowerment-- $10,000
As a poverty law research and advocacy center, Kentucky Equal Justice Center (KEJC) works with the regional legal aid programs and community partners to promote equal access to justice for all Kentuckians. KEJC will collaborate with Louisville community partners in educating recent immigrants and refugees on tenant rights and accessing benefits available to them under state and federal law.
Kentucky Refugee Ministries – Immigration Legal Services --$11,000
Kentucky Refugee Ministries provides legal services to immigrants who have resettled in the Louisville area. Many of these immigrants need to file applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for permanent residence status or to petition for asylum. The LBF grant will provide partial fee subsidies for immigrants who cannot afford to pay the entire cost of preparing and filing these documents.
Kentucky Resources Council – Advocacy on Energy and Environmental Issues – $3,500
The Kentucky Resources Council advocates on environmental or energy issues that may adversely affect the health or quality of life of low-income communities. KRC provides legal advocacy without charge to non-profit community groups who would not otherwise be able to afford representation on these issues. LBF funds will support KRC’s advocacy for these groups in Metro Louisville.
La Casita Center -- Legal Outreach and Clinic Services – $10,000
In addition to the numerous social, nutritional, and cultural programs La Casita Center provides in the Latino immigrant community, it specifically conducts outreach to Latina women and families in need of legal services. Through its targeted outreach and legal clinics, participants receive help on understanding the legal system, immigration issues, family law matters and other legal problems. LBF funds will support the Center’s targeted outreach to the Latino community and the development of a pro bono attorney panel to assist program participants in understanding legal problems and how to resolve them.
Legal Aid Society – Doctors and Lawyers for Kids -- $8,000
Doctors & Lawyers for Kids is a medical-legal partnership that assists children from low-income families by training healthcare providers to recognize unmet legal needs that affect patient health and by having free legal services available to families in need. LBF funds will be used to educate healthcare providers, social workers and discharge planners and enlist their help in identifying legal issues faced by caregivers and their children. LBF funds will support training pro bono volunteers to increase attorney resources to provide this service.
Legal Aid Society – COVID 19: Justice in Action – $30,000
COVID19: Justice in Action Program is Legal Aid Society's continuing response to the COVID19 pandemic’s, serving individuals and families directly impacted in the economic aftermath of the virus. Legal Aid will provide direct legal assistance to low-income families on issues such as eviction, unemployment and government benefit denials, tax, wage garnishments, and family law issues. LBF funds will support Legal Aid as it meets the dramatic increase in the number of individuals eligible for its services and in requests for assistance.
Legal Aid Society – Greenwald Family Legal Aid Internship Program – $2,000
The Greenwald Family Legal Aid Internship Fund at the LBF is a memorial fund to honor Murray J. Greenwald, Peggy Hirsch Greenwald, and Brooke Greenwald Cohen. Each year the Fund provides a stipend for a University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law student to work at the Legal Aid Society and to be educated on the practical aspects of the law. The goal of the internship is not only to provide needed support for the program, but is a meaningful way that the Greenwald family can pass on their passion for public service to the next generation of lawyers.
Louisville Bar Association – Summer Law Institute - $9,000
The Summer Law Institute is a partnership of the LBA, the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and Bellarmine University. The program provides high school students with an opportunity to interact with prominent local attorneys, judges and professors. It is designed to attract talented, ambitious students who are interested in a career in the legal profession. LBF grant monies will cover a portion of the direct costs of the program, thereby keeping the tuition affordable.
Metro Christian Legal Aid – Seed funding for expansion of services - $7,500
Since 2014, MCLA has provided free legal services through weekly or monthly clinics to low-income individuals and families throughout metro Louisville. With a network of over forty volunteer attorneys and with an office in the Portland neighborhood, MCLA’s legal clinics educate participants on how to resolve a broad range of legal problems, including expungements, landlord disputes, creditor issues and taxes. LBF’s grant will provide funds to allow MCLA to expand its reach and services to needy individuals.
University of Louisville School of Law – Ackerson Law Clinic Mediation Program – $5,000
The Ackerson Law Clinic at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law offers students who have completed initial course requirements the opportunity for practical experience by representing clients under the supervision of clinical instructors. The Mediation Program allows students to apply their mediation skills to assist low-income clients on issues which traditionally complicate and delay judicial resolution of Family Court disputes – custody, visitation, child support. LBF funds support this program designed to help the underserved population, to improve the efficiency of Family Courts, and to enhance the practical skills of law students.
YouthBuild – Legal Assistance Case Management Services – $5,000
YouthBuild helps young adults (18 -24 years old), often with prior involvement with the court system, obtain GEDs, secure employment and enroll in college or vocational programs. As a result of YouthBuild’s intensive interventions and programming, only 11 percent of its participants re-offend, compared to national recidivism rates trends where over 50 percent generally re-offend. YouthBuild’s case managers provide individualized support to participants to accomplish this success. LBF funds will assist case managers in identifying legal issues for participants and linking participants with legal resources to avoid and resolve issues that could lead to court involvement.
