Grantees
The Alabama Law Foundation’s yearly grants support programs that are 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.
General Legal Aid Grants
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 State Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program, which refers cases directly to lawyers in 60 counties and coordinates more than 2,000 volunteers, received a $140,000 grant.
Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama received a $50,000 grant to continue providing low-cost, quality legal and immigration services to low-income immigrants.
Legal Services Alabama (LSA), whose staff attorneys provide legal aid to economically disadvantaged citizens throughout Alabama, received a $125,000 grant.
Madison County Volunteer Lawyers Program works with nearly 500 lawyers and received a $125,000 grant.
Montgomery County Volunteer Lawyers Program, which works with more than 440 lawyers to meet the legal needs of low-income clients in Montgomery County, received a $92,000 grant.
South Alabama Volunteer Lawyers Program, which refers cases directly to more than 750 lawyers in Mobile, Baldwin, Clarke, and Washington counties, received a $116,100 grant.
Volunteer Lawyers Birmingham, which refers cases to more than 650 attorneys in the Birmingham area, received a $125,000 grant.
YWCA of Central Alabama received a $70,000 IOLTA grant to continue the “Justice on Wheels” program for victims of domestic violence in Blount and St. Clair Counties.
A new grant recipient for 2023, Samford University C-VETS, which trains law school students under attorney supervision by providing legal aid for veterans dealing with civil, criminal and administrative issues, received $25,000.
The following programs that improve the administration of justice collectively received grants totaling $225,549:
Alabama Administrative Office of Courts received a $27,130 grant to help support its Working Interdisciplinary Networks of Guardianship Stakeholders (WINGS). Since 2017, WINGS has been working to improve guardianship and conservatorship practices in Alabama. Its mission is to deliver information, resources, and tools throughout the legal system and to the public as a means of providing appropriate decision-making supports and protective services to individuals.
Alabama Appleseed Center for Law & Justice, which advocates for policies that encourage a more just Alabama, received a $25,000 grant.
Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, which assists attorneys appointed to capital cases in the post-conviction stage and supplies some representation to indigent defendants, received a $50,000 grant.
The Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution, a non-profit corporation organized to “develop, implement, administer, assist, and manage alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs in the courts, neighborhoods, educational facilities and government agencies within the State of Alabama,” received a $50,000 grant.
The Samford University/Cumberland Innocence Clinic, which focuses on helping exonerate persons convicted of crimes that they did not commit, received a grant of $25,000. Launched in the fall 2020 semester, the clinic provides students the opportunity to research, investigate, and help litigate cases in which there is compelling evidence of innocence.
Two new programs also received grants in this category for 2023.
Senior Services Via! Health, which provides legal aid to senior citizens without guardians, received a grant of $23,419.
Redemption Earned, which provides services to assist incarcerated and newly released inmates develop the skills needed to reintegrate into society, received a grant of $25,000.
The following program for law-related education received a grant for $30,000:
Short the Squirrel, a program that provides topical literacy and a child-centric focus on the legal process to minors impacted with court cases.
Foreclosure Prevention Grants
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; and Alabama Bankruptcy Assistance Project SAVLP, $35,000. Programs that have received general legal aid grants before but have not received foreclosure prevention grants before include Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, Jefferson County Eviction Externship, $17,250; and Alabama Center for Dispute Resolution, $100,000, for a landlord/tenant mediation project.