- Last Updated 02/08/2012 -

Grant Recipients

The following grants have been awarded since July 1, 2011.

Anishinabe Legal Services: $1,000 to provide wills and probate services to low-income community members.

Battered Women's Legal Advocacy Project: $2,000 to provide legal services to victims of domestic violence who do not have access to services elsewhere.

Center for Homicide Research: $1000 to update the homicide database and compile homicide data.

Employment Action Center: $1,000 to support the Young Dads program which provides legal information for low-income, single fathers working to gain custody and/or visitation of their children.

Friends Against Abuse: $1,000 to be able to continue to provide legal support to victims of sexual assault through their legal advocacy program of Lake of the Woods & Koochiching counties.

LegalCORPS: $1,500 to develop and launch regular monthly long-distance brief-advice business law clinics.

Minnesota Justice Foundation: $4,000 to support 2 summer clerks in greater Minnesota for the summer of 2012.

Minnesota Landmarks, Inc.: $500 to support a public outreach and law-related education initiative, "Uncle Sam Worked Here Lecture Series."

Minnesota Wills for Heroes: $1,000 to support hosting legal clinics in greater Minnesota for both of the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 fiscal years.

Missions, Inc. Program: $1,500 to support its program providing legal support to victims of domestic violence.

MSBA Civic Education Committee: $1,000 to continue efforts to educate youth about their civic rights and responsibilities.

MSBA Mock Trial Program: $3,900 to support the Mock Trial Program.

Peace and Hope International: $1,000 to support the Park Avenue Walk-in Clinic to increase volunteer and programming capacity, in providing essential quality legal advice and services to low-income persons.

Project FINE: $1,000 to provide education and resources to immigrants and refugees about their legal rights and responsibilities, and how to navigate the legal process.

Restorative Justice Community Action, Inc.: $1,000.00 to sustain and enhance the restorative justice services and expand the conferencing model to youth programs.

The Advocates for Human Rights: $2,000 to support the ongoing work to provide free legal services to indigent asylum seekers in Minnesota.

Tubman: $1,500 to provide legal representation, in-depth pro se assistance, and legal advice in family law cases to low-income individuals in the Twin Cities metro area.

The following grants were awarded from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011.

Alexandra House Inc: $2,000 to help provide legal representation to victims of domestic violence seeking Orders for Protection.

All Parks Alliance for Change: $2,500 to support a statewide manufactured mobile home park tenant hotline and to reach out to the Latino population with translating and interpreting services for in-person contacts, workshops, hotline calls and materials through the MN Legal Outreach Project.

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation: $500 to send printed and electronic materials to teachers regarding the Constitution and Bill of Rights that the teachers can use in conjunction with Constitution Day.

Battered Womens Legal Advocacy Project: $1,000 to provide legal information, consultation, training, litigation support and policy development assistance to advocates and battered women, in particular those from underrepresented populations.

Centro Campesino Inc: $2,000 to support the Immigrant Empowerment Project which educates new Latino immigrants in southern Minnesota about their civil and labor rights through educational workshops with the assistance of legal organizations or private law firms.

Civil Society: $1,500 to support direct immigration legal screening for human trafficking victims & emergency immigration legal services that provide safety and stability while human trafficking victims are providing evidence to convict human traffickers who have victimized them.

Dispute Resolution Center: $1,000 to provide free and low-cost alternative dispute resolution services to lower-income individuals, families and communities in the East Metro Area.

Domestic Abuse Project: $1,000 to support free legal & community advocacy services to victims of domestic violence in Hennepin County.

Estate & Elder Law Services: $1,000 to provide legal advice, representation and community education seminars to adults with disabilities and/or those age 60 and older.

Farmers Legal Action Group Inc: $2,500 to provide the broad range of legal services and resources that low-income family farmers need to maintain their livelihoods and stay on their land.

Hands of Hope Resource Center:  $1,000 to provide legal advocacy services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and general crime in Morrison and Todd Counties.

Home Line:  $500 to support law-related educational presentations to high school students, police officers, shelter residents, landlords and social service providers about the rights and responsibilities of renting.

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota: $3,000 to provide immigration legal services to low-income immigrant and refugee communities and law-related education to the communities and professionals that work with them.

Indian Child Welfare Act Law Center:  $1,000 to provide legal services to low-income Indian families impacted by the child protection system and to be a comprehensive legal resource regarding the mandates and intent of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Koochiching County Sexual Assault Program: $1,000 to support the Legal Advocacy Program which provides services to victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse in Koochiching and Lake of the Woods counties.

Lao Advancement Organization of America Inc: $500 to provide bilingual Naturalization Application Preparation assistance to Lao speaking individuals living in the Twin Cities.

Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers:  $3,000 to support services for lawyers, law students and judges in Minnesota who need help with chemical and other addictions and dependencies, mental health, stress, family, financial and work related problems.

Legal Assistance of Olmsted County: $600 to help provide interpreters for low-income, non-English speaking clients who need translation during consultations with attorneys and when reviewing legal documents.

LegalCORPS: $500 support for LegalCORPS ongoing efforts to connect pro bono business lawyers with low-income entrepreneurs and small nonprofits that cannot afford the transactional legal assistance they need for success.

Legal Rights Center Inc: $1,000 funding for ADR services to the Co-Parent Court pilot project in the 4th Judicial District which aims to improve family court processing of paternity and child support orders in situations in which there has been no marriage.

Loan Repayment Assistance Program:  $3,000 to make education loan repayment assistance awards to attorneys who are providing legal assistance to low-income and disadvantaged Minnesotans.

Mediation Works North Inc:  $1,000 to support the Parents Forever program for parents involved in litigation over children, custody, parenting time or divorce.

Mid-Minnesota Legal Assistance: $2,000 to assist with outreach and promotion of LawHelpMN.org, a website that provides comprehensive legal information, self-help forms, and referrals on civil legal matters of low-income Minnesotans.

Midwest Center on Law and the Deaf: $1,000 to provide attorney referral, advocacy, information and referral, and education to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing in Minnesota.

Minnesota AIDS Project: $1,500 to support the Minnesota AIDS Project Legal Services Program.

Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans: $2,000 to continue the VETLAW (Veterans Employed Through Legal Advocacy Work) program, which serves Minnesota veterans who are homeless, nearly homeless or in crisis.

Minnesota Fathers & Families Network: $500 to print copies of The Unmarried Fathers' Guide to Paternity, Custody, Parenting Time and Child Support in Minnesota, soon to be revised edition (2010).

Minnesota Justice Foundation: $4,000 to support two summer law clerks (one in the Twin Cities and one in Greater Minnesota) who will work full-time at legal aid offices and public interest organizations during the summer of 2011.

Missions Inc Programs: $1,000 to support the Home Free Community Program which provides legal support to victims of domestic violence.

MSBA Civic Education Committee: $500 to support efforts to educate youth about the legal system thru the Lawyers in the Schools, Operation Mediation, and MN Supreme Court Traveling Oral Arguments programs.

MSBA Mock Trial Program: $1,500 to support the Mock Trial Program, which is a law-related education program involving high school students, teachers, judges and attorneys statewide.

Neighborhood Justice Center Inc:  $1,000 to provide comprehensive criminal defense and crime prevention services to low-income persons emphasizing outreach through the Legal Representation & Advice, Education and Expungement programs.

North Shore Horizons Inc: $1,000 to provide legal assistance and criminal justice intervention to domestic and sexual violence victims in Lake and Cook Counties, and, also, training for staff and law enforcement.

Oromo Community Inc Minneapolis / St Paul: $1,000 to support activities associated with assisting Oromo refugees with their immigration status in collaboration with the Legal Aid Society.

Range Women's Advocates:  $1,500 to support court advocacy, staff education and training to facilitate access to the legal system for victims of domestic violence.

Reentry Clinic of William Mitchell College of Law: $300 to provide legal assistance to men residing at the 180 Degrees halfway house in Minneapolis during three family law clinics, specifically assisting with child support modification, paternity, parenting time, and obtaining free credit reports.

Restorative Justice Community Action Inc: $1,000 to support efforts to improve community livability through restorative justice practices by allowing RJCA to sustain, expand and enhance their current services throughout Minneapolis.

Sexual Assault Program of Beltrami Cass & Hubbard Counties: $1,500 to provide legal advocacy to sexual violence victims in Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, and Hubbard counties and the Leech Lake Reservation.

Sexual Assault Program of Northern St Louis County: $1,500 to support legal advocacy services and staff education that will assist victims of sexual violence, some of whom suffer from mental illness, a disability, clinical depression and/or post traumatic stress.

Southwest Minnesota State University:  $500 for training and interpreting services by SMSU Somali students to help improve communication between the staff of the 5th District Public Defenders Office and their Somali-speaking clients.

The Innocence Project of Minnesota:  $1,000 to provide free legal services to indigent and potentially wrongfully convicted prisoners and to educate community members and representatives from the justice system about strategies to prevent such injustices from occurring.

The Refuge Network:  $1,000 to help fund supportive legal services and training for legal advocates to help women who seek assistance in leaving abusers or abusive relationships.

Volunteer Lawyers Network: $2,000 funding so that VLN can continue to provide legal services to low-income people, primarily in Hennepin County, through volunteer lawyers.

WATCH: $500 to support the presentation of the Providing Feedback to Your Courts webinar in November 2010, for development of a companion guidebook and to provide direct assistance to programs via phone, e-mail and onsite training.

Women in Need Depending on Other Women: $1,000 to provide court ordered Parents Forever curriculum in Hinckley where no such program exists in all of Pine and Kanabec Counties.

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