Current Grants

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)
For immigration-related legal assistance to residents of Central and Southern Illinois.

$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

 

 

Back to Top