Grant Recipients
The Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Program is a successful partnership between Vermont lawyers and the financial community resulting in a statewide grants program to promote equal access to justice for all Vermonters. In 2011, Vermont Bar Foundation awarded grants to 16 local and statewide projects that provide civil legal services to disadvantaged Vermonters or that educates the general public about the courts and legal matters.
Competitive Grants 2011
Battered Women’s Services and Shelter, Inc. – $6,000
Court Hour Program: BWSS offers a number of services to help abuse survivors build upon their strengths and shape fulfilling lives for themselves and their children by offering an immediate response to domestic violence. This program has proven to be invaluable in that it allows victims increased in-person advocacy before hearing dates so that they can better prepare for court proceedings. Funding continues to assist the weekly support group for women involved in the court system.
Burlington College - $7,500
Burlington College Pro Se Legal Clinic: The Burlington College Pro Se Legal Clinic, operating Saturday mornings, teaches low income Vermonters how to manage their own legal issues in courts. The clinic has expanded its services to Burlington’s immigrant and refugee population, Vermonters with mental disabilities, and the elderly. Funding continues to support the legal clinic attorney.
Disability Rights Vermont– $3,000
Legal Advocacy and Representation: DRVT’s mission is to assist Vermonters with disabilities overcome abuse, neglect and discrimination based on their status as people with disabilities. Funding will support a staff attorney to assist low income individuals with disabilities who are seeking to obtain or maintain gainful employment but are experiencing barriers to their efforts in the form of discrimination due to their disability.
Have Justice–Will Travel, Inc. - $22,500
Legal Empowerment Assistance Program: LEAP is a natural progression of the HJWT model and the organization’s effort to end the generational cycle of abuse in rural families. The program allows Have Justice to offer long term, on-going support to those pro se litigants in advice and/or legal education throughout their case. Funding will support the LEAP Coordinator.
Project Against Violent Encounters (PAVE) – $2,000
Legal Representation: PAVE is committed to providing comprehensive services to victims of domestic and sexual violence. Frequently, access to attorneys and to legal remedies is needed to stop the harm that can destabilize a victim’s life. Funding will assist low income victims of domestic and/or sexual violence with access to legal representation on a reduced-fee basis.
St. Johnsbury Community Justice Center - $3,000
Legal Clinic: The mission of the Legal Clinic is and always has been to provide one-time legal assistance and advice to clients about their rights and responsibilities. Funding will support a free monthly legal clinic serving residents of Caledonia and southern Essex Counties and victims of domestic violence throughout the Northeast Kingdom.
Vermont Bar Association - $12,000
Rutland Pilot Project: The goals and objectives of the project are to provide low- income Vermonters the opportunity for legal representation in specific cases in the superior, family and probate divisions in the Rutland Unit of the Vermont Superior Court. Funding will cover representation, on a reduced-fee basis, to low-income pro se litigants in specified cases.
Vermont Bar Association - $5,000
Windham County Pro Bono Project: Windham County attorneys will provide low-income Vermonters legal representation in specific cases in civil, family and probate divisions of the Windham Unit of the Vermont Superior Court. Funding will cover representation, on a reduced-fee basis to low-income, pro se litigants in landlord/tenant, foreclosure, collections, involuntary guardianship and child-support contempt cases.
Vermont Bar Association - $10,000
Windsor/Orange Counties Pro Bono Project: The Project seeks to increase the amount of pro bono work being done by attorneys within the Counties by connecting indigent and low-income litigants, who would otherwise represent themselves, with attorneys willing to represent them at no fee or a reduced fee. Funding will cover representation, on a reduced-fee basis, to low-income pro se litigants in specified cases.
VT Immigration and Asylum Advocates – $12,000
Vermont Immigration Project: VIAA is the only organization in Vermont with the primary focus of assisting the legal needs of indigent asylum-seekers, torture survivors and immigrants. This includes individuals seeking asylum in the U.S.; those who are detained in Vermont and entered into removal proceedings; and those with little or no resources who have been forced to leave their homeland and are not part of a resettlement program. VIAA also works through the public schools, churches, and the media to educate Vermonters about conditions in the refugee producing countries, about U.S. immigration law, and its effect on asylum-seekers. Funding will be used for operating support.
Women Helping Battered Women, Inc. – $13,500
Enhanced Legal Advocacy and Education: The mission of WHBW is to support, identify options and advocate for individuals who have experienced domestic violence and to serve as a catalyst for social change. Grant funding will be used to continue staffing at the Thursday morning single docket for Relief of Abuse Order hearings at the Chittenden Unit Family Division, and a weeknight legal clinic co-facilitated by legal advocates and local attorneys.
WomenSafe – $6,000
Judicare Project: WomenSafe works toward the elimination of physical, sexual and emotional violence against women and their children through direct service, education and social change. Funding will be used to provide legal services for women who have experienced domestic and sexual violence through custody and divorce proceedings in Addison County and Rochester.
Non-Competitive Grants 2011
Legal Services Law Line of VT – $50,000
Staff Attorney: Law Line provides direct service, primarily counsel and advice, brief service and pro se assistance, to eligible clients in civil matters. Funding will help Law Line provide direct legal assistance to low income Vermonters.
Vermont Bar Association - $22,875
Statewide Pro Bono Coordinator: The Pro Bono Coordinator position was created in 2008 to respond to the need for having a centralized system to encourage, coordinate, and track the delivery of pro bono services in Vermont. The Coordinator continues to identify and unify pro bono efforts throughout the State, publicize and promote the work of pro bono attorneys, recruit and provide training for pro bono attorneys in areas of need, and coordinate with existing access to justice programs and projects. Funding will cover one-half of the Coordinator’s salary and benefits.
Vermont Law School, South Royalton Legal Clinic – $60,000
Staff Attorney: The Legal Clinic provides a broad range of effective, free legal services to vulnerable, disadvantaged residents of central and southeastern Vermont. Its primary goals are to provide high-quality legal services to low-income people and to help law students develop essential lawyering skills. Funding will support the staff attorneys.
Vermont Legal Aid, Inc. – $876,000
General Funding: VLA has been providing civil legal services to low-income Vermonters since 1967. VLA helps people who encounter legal issues – such as probate, domestic violence, securing public housing, fraudulent consumer practices targeted at senior citizens, and child custody and support-, but who lack the financial means to afford the necessary legal services to address those issues. VLA restores faith in our justice system for people who would otherwise have no access to justice as a way of resolving conflicts. Funding supports general operations.
