Alabama Law Foundation Announces 2023 Grant Recipients

January 30, 2023 – (MONTGOMERY, Ala.) – The Alabama Law Foundation’s yearly grants support programs committed to the foundation’s mission of making access to justice a reality for all of Alabama’s citizens. Grants are awarded in two categories: General Legal Aid Grants and Foreclosure Prevention Grants. The total of all grants for 2023 is $1,455,899. Three new organizations were awarded grants this year – Samford University C-VETS, Senior Services Via! Health, and Redemption Earned.

“More than 95% of the grants awarded by the Alabama Law Foundation are to groups that provide free civil legal aid to the poor,” said ALF Board President Matt McDonald. “Volunteer Lawyer Programs and Legal Services – that’s our core. I am happy that we were able to increase our grants this year and also include three new organizations that are vital partners in our mission to ensure equal access to justice for everyone under the law.”

The 2023 general legal aid grants were in three sections: Legal Aid to the Poor, Administration of Justice, and Law Related Education. General legal aid grants for 2023 totaled $1,123,649.

The following programs that provide civil legal services for the low-income residents of Alabama collectively received grants totaling $868,100: Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program, $140,000; Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama, $50,000; Legal Services Alabama, $125,000; Madison County Volunteer Lawyers Program, $125,000; Montgomery County Volunteer Lawyers Program, $92,000; South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program, $116,100; Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham, $125,000; YMCA of Central Alabama, $70,000; and Samford University C-VETS, $25,000.

The following programs that improve the administration of justice collectively received grants totaling $225,549: Alabama Administrative Office of Courts, $27,130; Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, $25,000; Equal Justice Initiative, $50,000; Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution, $50,000; Samford University/Cumberland Innocence Clinic, $25,000; Senior Services Via! Health, $23,419; and Redemption Earned, $25,000.

Short the Squirrel, a program that provides topical literacy and a child-centric focus on the legal process to minors impacted with court cases, received a grant for $30,000.

In 2016 the Alabama Law Foundation received $3.3 million as part of a nationwide mortgage foreclosure settlement between the Bank of America and the United States Department of Justice. Each year, the foundation awards a portion of these funds to civil legal aid organizations to provide legal services to help Alabama homeowners avoid losing their homes to foreclosure.

In 2023 the Alabama Law Foundation will provide $332,250 in Foreclosure Prevention Grants. Recipients of these grants are Legal Services Alabama, $70,000; Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham (VLP Coalition), $110,000; Alabama Bankruptcy Assistance Project SAVLP, $35,000; Samford University, Cumberland School of Law/Jefferson, $17,250; and Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution, $100,000.

“We had so many deserving applicants, it was really difficult for our Grants committee to narrow it down and select the 2023 recipients,” said Dawn Hathcock, ALF Executive Director. “There was not an undeserving applicant among the many we reviewed, but it just came down to selecting those that were closest to our mission of ensuring civil justice.”

For more information about the Alabama Law Foundation and to learn more about the 2023 grant recipients, visit our GRANTS page.

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