For calendar year 2023, the Lawyers Trust Fund awarded $17,190,077 in grants to 48 organizations providing civil legal aid.
The recipient, amount, and purpose of each current-year grant are listed below.
| Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago (Chicago) To provide legal assistance to individuals with disabilities facing illegal housing discrimination or seeking reasonable accommodations to housing. |
$35,000 |
| Ascend Justice (Chicago) To help victims of domestic violence secure civil orders of protection through a court-based clinic. |
$329,000 |
| Cabrini Green Legal Aid (Chicago) For legal representation of low-income Illinoisans in sealing and expunging criminal records and in matters related to housing, family law, employment. |
$480,000 |
| CARPLS Legal Aid (Chicago) To support the legal aid hotline program serving Cook County, which provides brief legal assistance and referrals to thousands of callers and self-represented litigants at the Daley Center each year. |
$992,000 |
| Center for Disability & Elder Law (Chicago) To support the operation of CDEL’s Senior Legal Assistance Clinics and provision of housing-related legal services in Chicago and suburban Cook County. |
$134,400 |
| Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (Chicago) To help victims of sexual assault pursue civil legal protections related to safety in rental housing, educational settings, and the workplace. |
$35,000 |
| Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (Chicago) To support the Law Project, which helps homeless and at-risk youth obtain access to educational, medical care and other services. |
$86,800 |
| Chicago House & Social Service Agency (Chicago) To support a range of civil legal services for transgender and gender-nonconforming residents of Chicago. |
$111,455 |
| Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (Chicago) For legal assistance to non-profit organizations serving low-income Chicago neighborhoods. |
$86,800 |
| Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (Chicago) To support the work of Illinois’ oldest and largest pro bono program. |
$1,129,000 |
| Chicago Workers Collaborative (Chicago) To support legal aid services for low-income workers. |
$75,000 |
| Children’s Legal Center (Chicago) To support legal aid services for children involved in the immigration process. |
$60,000 |
| Chinese American Service League (Chicago) For legal services to low-income Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking individuals and families. |
$35,000 |
| DePaul University Asylum & Immigration Clinic (Chicago) To support the Legal Resource Project for Immigration Service Providers, which offers technical and back-up assistance to community based organizations providing legal assistance to immigrants and refugees. |
$85,000 |
| DuPage Legal Aid (Wheaton) To support the pro bono efforts of attorneys in DuPage County, with services focused on family law matters. |
$155,000 |
| Equip for Equality (Carbondale & Springfield) Support for staff attorneys based in Springfield and Carbondale who serve people with disabilities in Central and Southern Illinois. |
$442,400 |
| Erie Neighborhood House (Chicago) To provide immigration legal assistance to residents of Chicago. |
$35,000 |
| Farmworker & Landscaper Advocacy Project (Chicago) To provide legal services to low-income Illinois workers and their households in the following industries: cannery, farms, greenhouse, landscaping, meat, nursery, packing, poultry, restaurants, and snow plowing. |
$85,000 |
| Greater Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc. (Chicago) To support legal services to low-income residents of Chicago and the inner-ring suburbs. |
$393,640 |
| Illinois Equal Justice Foundation (Chicago) To support the not-for-profit entity that advocates for and distributes legal aid funding appropriated by the state legislature. |
$62,000 |
| Illinois Legal Aid Online (Chicago) To provide comprehensive Internet-based information and resources to legal aid advocates, pro bono attorneys, and members of the public seeking legal assistance. |
$1,049,400 |
|
Immigration Project (Bloomington) |
$229,400 |
| Indo-American Center (Chicago) To provide legal services to South Asian immigrants in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago and beyond. |
$35,000 |
| James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy (Evanston) For legal aid services focused on criminal-records relief. |
$35,000 |
| Ladder Up (Chicago) To support the Tax Clinic, which assists taxpayers regarding disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. |
$35,000 |
| Land of Lincoln Legal Aid (East St. Louis) For legal services to low-income residents of 65 counties in Southern and Central Illinois. |
$2,938,560 |
| Law Center for Better Housing (Chicago) To provide advice and representation to tenants facing housing-related legal problems. |
$542,400 |
| Legal Aid Chicago (Chicago) To provide legal services to low-income residents of Chicago and suburban Cook County. |
$868,000 |
| Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services (Chicago) To support the oldest legal aid program in Illinois, which has been in continuous operation since 1886. |
$465,000 |
| Legal Council for Health Justice (Chicago) To provide legal assistance to help secure health care and stability for people with HIV, individuals facing homelessness, and children with chronic illnesses. |
$424,592 |
| Life Span Center for Legal Services & Advocacy (Chicago) To provide legal assistance and representation to victims of domestic violence. |
$484,000 |
| National Immigrant Justice Center (Chicago) To support comprehensive legal services for immigrants. |
$1,067,600 |
| North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic (Highland Park) To support legal assistance to low-income individuals in Lake County and Northern Cook County in matters involving domestic violence, immigration, and housing. |
$60,000 |
| Northern Illinois Justice for Our Neighbors (Chicago) To provide immigration-related legal assistance through clinics in Aurora, Rockford, and Chicago. |
$45,000 |
| Prairie State Legal Services (Rockford) For legal services to low-income residents of 36 counties in Northern Illinois through a network of ten branch offices. |
$3,012,880 |
| Public Interest Law Initiative (Chicago) To provide support and technical assistance to judicial circuit-based pro bono coordinating committees outside of Cook County. |
$149,000 |
| Raise the Floor Alliance (Chicago) For the legal aid program of an organization serving low-wage workers. |
$75,000 |
| Shriver Center on Poverty Law (Chicago) To provide legal counsel to tenants of public and subsidized housing complexes statewide. |
$45,000 |
| Southern Illinois University School of Law Legal Clinic (Carbondale) To support the work of law students and faculty serving clients age 60 and older in 13 counties in Southern Illinois. |
$113,000 |
| Syrian Community Network (Chicago) For legal services for low-income, Arabic-speaking immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers throughout Illinois. |
$35,000 |
| The Resurrection Project (Chicago) To support the new Immigrant Justice Leadership Academy, which trains individuals to become accredited representatives who can provide immigration-related legal services. |
$245,000 |
| The Village Legal & Community Project (Chicago) For a startup legal aid program based on Chicago’s South Side, serving individuals living in the Englewood, Woodlawn, and South Shore neighborhoods. |
$50,000 |
| Uptown People’s Law Center (Chicago) To support the Tenants’ Rights Project, which works to ensure tenants are not unlawfully evicted. |
$160,000 |
| Valley Immigrant Advocates (Ottowa) To provide immigration-related legal services to individuals and families in Central Illinois. |
$35,000 |
| Westside Justice Center (Chicago) For legal assistance to low-income residents on the West Side of Chicago. |
$35,000 |
| World Relief Chicagoland (Wheaton & Aurora) To provide immigration legal assistance to individuals who have been victims of domestic violence or other violent crimes. |
$53,750 |
| Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (Chicago) To advocate for the best interests of undocumented children who are held in detention in Illinois. |
$35,000 |