For calendar year 2025, the Lawyers Trust Fund awarded $26,149,625 in grants to 55 organizations providing civil legal aid in Illinois.
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. |
$25,000 |
| Ascend Justice (Chicago) To help victims of domestic violence secure civil orders of protection through a court-based clinic. |
$500,000 |
| 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. |
$775,000 |
| 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. |
$1,390,000 |
| Center for Disability & Elder Law (Chicago) To support legal services for low-income senior citizens and adults with permanent disabilities in Chicago and suburban Cook County. |
$310,000 |
|
Centro de Información (Elgin) To provide immigration legal assistance in Kane County, with a focus on Spanish-speaking immigrant communities. |
$40,000 |
|
Chicago Advocate Legal NFP (Chicago) |
$40,000 |
| 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. |
$50,000 |
| Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (Chicago) To support the Law Project, which helps homeless and at-risk youth obtain access to educational, medical care and other services. |
$90,000 |
| Chicago House TransLegal Program (Chicago) To support a range of civil legal services for transgender and gender-nonconforming residents of Chicago. |
$101,500 |
| Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (Chicago) For legal assistance to individuals regarding employment discrimination claims and preserving educational opportunities, as well as to non-profit organizations serving low-income Chicago neighborhoods. |
$100,000 |
| Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (Chicago) To support the work of Illinois’ oldest and largest pro bono program. |
$1,037,000 |
|
Chicago Workers Collaborative (Chicago) |
$125,000 |
|
Chinese American Service League (Chicago) |
$40,000 |
|
CJE SeniorLife (Chicago) |
$40,000 |
|
Coalition Legal (Waukegan) To support legal services regarding criminal records relief in Lake County. |
$40,000 |
|
DePaul University Asylum & Immigration Clinic (Chicago) |
$78,000 |
| DuPage Legal Aid (Wheaton) To support legal representation in DuPage County for individuals in family law matters. |
$200,000 |
| Equip for Equality (Carbondale & Springfield) Support for staff attorneys based Alton, Belleville, Carbondale, Rockford, and Springfield who serve people with disabilities throughout Illinois. |
$550,000 |
|
Erie Neighborhood House (Chicago) |
$100,000 |
| Greater Chicago Legal Clinic (Chicago) To support legal services to low-income residents of Chicago and the inner-ring suburbs. |
$400,000 |
|
HANA Center (Chicago) To support legal assistance for Korean American and multiethnic immigrant communities in Chicago and the northwest suburbs of Cook County. |
$40,000 |
| 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. |
$55,000 |
| 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. |
$1,195,000 |
|
Illinois Prison Project (Chicago) To support legal services to incarcerated individuals across Illinois pursuing civil and administrative relief related to their incarceration. |
$75,000 |
|
Immigration Project (Bloomington-Normal and Champaign) |
$400,000 |
| Indo-American Center (Chicago) To provide legal services to South Asian immigrants in the West Ridge neighborhood of Chicago and beyond. |
$50,000 |
|
James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy (Evanston) |
$75,000 |
| Ladder Up (Chicago) To support the Tax Clinic, which assists taxpayers regarding disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. |
$25,000 |
| Land of Lincoln Legal Aid (East St. Louis) For legal services to low-income residents of 65 counties in Southern and Central Illinois. |
$5,200,000 |
| Law Center for Better Housing (Chicago) To provide advice and representation to tenants facing housing-related legal problems. |
$725,000 |
| Legal Aid Chicago (Chicago) To provide legal services to low-income residents of Chicago and suburban Cook County. |
$2,000,000 |
| 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. |
$750,000 |
| 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. |
$450,000 |
| Life Span Center for Legal Services & Advocacy (Chicago) To provide legal assistance and representation to victims of domestic violence. |
$506,875 |
|
Loyola University Chicago School of Law Health Justice Project Clinic (Chicago) |
$40,000 |
|
National Immigrant Justice Center (Chicago) |
$1,365,000 |
| 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. |
$200,000 |
| Northern Illinois Justice for Our Neighbors (Chicago) To provide immigration-related legal assistance through clinics in Aurora, Rockford, and Chicago. |
$85,000 |
| 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. |
$5,450,000 |
|
Pro Bono Network (Oak Park) To recruit, support, and mentor volunteer attorneys in pro bono projects created in partnership with Illinois legal aid organizations. |
$25,000 |
|
Public Interest Law Initiative (Chicago) |
$286,000 |
| Raise the Floor Alliance (Chicago) For the legal aid program of an organization serving low-wage workers. |
$80,000 |
| Southern Illinois University School of Law Civil Practice Clinic (Carbondale) To support the work of law students and faculty serving clients age 60 and older in 13 counties in Southern Illinois. |
$100,000 |
| Syrian Community Network (Chicago) For legal services for low-income, Arabic-speaking immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers throughout Illinois. |
$70,000 |
|
Teamwork Englewood (Chicago) To support legal services in the South and West Sides of Chicago and the south suburbs of Cook County. |
$40,000 |
| 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) |
$100,000 |
|
Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights (Chicago) |
$30,000 |
|
United African Organization (Chicago) To support immigration legal services for the African immigrant and refugee communities in Illinois. |
$40,000 |
| Uptown People’s Law Center (Chicago) To support the Tenants’ Rights Project, which works to ensure tenants are not unlawfully evicted. |
$210,000 |
| Valley Immigrant Advocates (Ottawa) To provide immigration-related legal services to individuals and families in Central Illinois. |
$66,500 |
|
Vietnamese Association of Illinois (Chicago) To support immigration legal services for immigrants and refugees, prioritizing services to seniors, those with limited English proficiency, and/or families with low socioeconomic status in Cook and DuPage counties. |
$40,000 |
| Westside Justice Center (Chicago) For legal assistance to low-income residents on the West Side of Chicago. |
$40,000 |
| World Relief Chicagoland (Wheaton & Aurora) To provide immigration legal assistance to individuals who have been victims of domestic violence or other violent crimes. |
$58,750 |