Grant Database

The Representation for Immigrant Victims of Crime project will provide legal assistance, including litigation, to 100 South Florida immigrant crime victims. The project will also increase awareness and help individuals navigate the system to ensure that law enforcement can help immigrants and immigrants cooperate and report crimes, increasing safety and stability for everyone.

The Climate Gentrification in Miami and Orlando project provides free legal assistance to vulnerable and long-time residents of the Little Haiti and Allapattah neighborhoods and a statewide coalition of tenants & mobile home owners who risk losing their affordable housing due to gentrification and climate change. The Stabilizing Affordable Housing; Collateral Minor Arrests Issues: Economic, Racial, & Civil Justice in Miami project will support ongoing federal litigation and policy advocacy to halt negative economic impacts resulting from minor arrests, such as failure to carry a driver’s license. These impact projects will serve 75 clients and benefit 7,558 households.

The Eviction Mediation Project is focused on expanding access to justice for 170 low-income tenants facing eviction by increasing legal representation in mediation and litigation, and creating materials for community education. This will lead to improved economic development because it will help struggling families avoid homelessness and minimize the harsh consequences of eviction. This, in turn, enhances stability, both economically and personally for the family members affected, and it improves communities as a whole.

Four projects will be funded: 1. The Domestic Violence Podemos Program meets the needs of domestic violence victims by providing high quality holistic family law representation, including litigation, to reduce re-victimization and decreases the costs of medical/mental health care and lost productivity. 2. The Human Trafficking Victims Representation Program is designed to provide legal representation to human trafficking victims, such as expungement of records, so they can obtain employment and reduce the high costs associated with human trafficking. 3. The Immigrant Children Program provides legal representation, including litigation, for immigrant children in Immigration Court, USCIS and State Court so that they can become legal permanent residents. This is a life altering benefit to the child and creates a positive economic impact to our community. Children with legal status in the U.S. are able to gain lawful employment, pay taxes, obtain drivers licenses, establish credit, open bank accounts, obtain private healthcare, obtain in-state tuition, etc. All of these opportunities improve economic development. 4. The Veterans Representation Program will address the unmet needs of veterans seeking treatment for drug addictions and participating in Miami Dade’s Veterans’ Court. Representation will be provided in the areas of family law and immigration. The project is already assisting veterans re-establish visitation and custody with minor children, and obtaining immigration benefits for veterans with undocumented immigrant spouses. These outcomes serve as motivation for our veteran clients to continue treatment, begin working and gain greater financial stability for the benefit of their children and/or spouses. It is anticipated that the four projects will serve 400 clients in total.

The South Dade Guardianship Economic Development Project will create practical and replicable solutions to attain social, community, and economic justice for low-income clients and their families by securing structured care plans in Guardianships that will prevent low-income people, including older foster teens, LGBTQ+ and immigrants, from becoming homeless, exploited, discriminated against, or victims of unscrupulous predators. This project will serve around 1200 clients, and help preserve affordable housing for vulnerable individuals and help them to retain their assets.

The Criminal Justice Reform Through Impact Litigation project will achieve social and economic justice through impact litigation and direct legal advocacy on behalf of institutionalized persons and the homeless. With multiple class action lawsuits currently pending, this project will impact more than 10,000 inmates and ultimately benefit the communities that each of these inmates will eventually return to upon release.

Four projects will be funded: 1. The Immigrant & Migrant Rights Project will prevent the economic exploitation of immigrant and migrant workers by employers, such as violations of working conditions, unpaid wages, employment discrimination and sexual harassment, through a mix of individual representation, class action litigation and impact advocacy. It is anticipated that this project will serve 300 clients; 2. Florida Institutional Legal Services protects social, community, and economic justice for indigent people in state custody by using class action lawsuits, individual representation, and community lawyering to advocate for access to mental and physical healthcare, public benefits, and relief of debt while in custody. It is anticipated that 15,000 prisoners will be served through this project; 3. The Affordable Housing Preservation project preserves affordable rental housing through ongoing and replicable impact litigation and advocacy. It is anticipated that this project will serve 200 clients; The Disaster Preparation & Recovery project identifies and combats systemic barriers to disaster recovery assistance by providing legal information, disaster-related legal assistance to low-income clients, and systemic and policy advocacy to ensure that disaster relief is made available. It is anticipated that this project will serve over 15,000 Floridians.

The Financial Stability Project will provide legal assistance, including litigation, for numerous matters including housing/evictions, tax controversies, medical bills, creditor harassment, identification, SSI/SSD appeals, and VA benefits, among others. The ultimate goal is to assist low-income clients in achieving economic self-sufficiency and retaining or obtaining stable housing. It is anticipated that this project will serve 775 clients.

The Litigation, Education, and Advocacy for Vulnerable Immigrants project looks to increase legal assistance, including litigation, and community lawyering to immigrant survivors of crime and domestic violence in family law and immigration matters in rural Polk, Highlands, and Hardee counties. This legal representation will assist 80 client victims and will ultimately remove economic barriers and increasing client safety by becoming economically and emotionally independent.

IDignity provides free civil legal assistance to low income Central Floridians who need legal assistance in obtaining identification documents. IDignity assists homeless and impoverished clients in navigating the complex process of obtaining various forms of legal identification documents, which are required to access employment, education, housing, healthcare, benefits & numerous other opportunities which directly impact economic success. It is anticipated that this project will serve 585 clients.

The Region II Wealth Building Project will use legal remedies including litigation to build wealth in vulnerable communities and reinforce three pillars of financial stability: employment, health, and preservation of income and assets. Objectives include promoting employment through immigration litigation and sealing/expunction; alleviating health setbacks through access to healthcare and elimination of health-harming stressors; and preventing or reducing financial strains like foreclosure, debt collection, and family instability. It is estimated that this project will assist 750 clients.

The Pro Bono Legal Services Program mobilizes and educates volunteer attorneys to assist clients through projects such as 1(a) Train the Agencies, which uses pro bono attorneys to train agencies involved in food distribution, housing assistance, employment assistance, etc. to look beyond the problem and immediate solution, identify a legal issue, and how to refer to legal aid; 1(b) a newly created pro bono expungement clinic which will provide direct legal services to indigent clients in Leon County; 1(c) Thunderdome Tallahassee, a volunteer training program that provides solutions to the issue of lack of resources by recruiting and training volunteer attorneys to provide legal representation through a ten month program that instills within new and seasoned lawyers the value of serving indigent individuals while equipping them with the tools necessary to successfully take family law pro bono cases. Also, The Promise Zone Program will provides direct legal assistance for indigent individuals in a specific, blighted area in Leon County designated the “Promise Zone” because of its crime, poverty, poor health, and unemployment. Through all the listed programs above, an estimated 525 clients will be served.

The Medical Legal Partnership is a collaboration between Legal Aid of Manasota and Sarasota Memorial Hospital, designed to build a healthier, stronger community in Newtown, a low-income historically minority area in North Sarasota, FL. The goal of the project is to reduce health disparities in the medically underserved area, which can be achieved by lawyers and doctors working together on patients’ health issues, especially those with acute or chronic illness. This project provides civil legal services through a full range of legal strategies, including litigation, to low-income residents of Newtown using an evidence-based successful model to create a practical and replicable solution to attaining social, community and economic justice. This project intends to serve 100 clients.

Three projects will be funded: 1. The Consumer Law Project will assist clients by using a direct legal services, including litigation, to address consumer issues such as wage and bank garnishments, mortgage foreclosures, association foreclosures, credit card debt and suits, as well as driver’s license reinstatement and sealing or expungement of eligible criminal records. This project’s purpose is to stabilize 250 low- to moderate-income clients and address barriers to their economic security; 2. The Impact Litigation Project seeks to preserve affordable housing through ongoing and complex impact litigation which, if successful, will benefit over 200 people; and 3. The Veteran’s Law Project in Collier County will provide legal assistance, including litigation, to over 100 veterans, active duty military service people, and their families for prevention of eviction and foreclosure; child support issues; restoring driver’s licenses; discharge upgrades, expungement of criminal records, and securing military benefits.

The Affordable Housing in Economically Revitalized Communities Project is designed to create vibrant and resilient communities by empowering residents and preserving affordable housing. The project will provide legal representation/litigation for 215 low- and moderate-income individuals, and organizations that are focused on increasing and preserving affordable housing. In addition, the project provides legal education and community outreach to help those who reside in federally designated opportunity zones in Palm Beach County identify the strengths and challenges in their neighborhoods and create solutions to ensure economic stability and self-sufficiency.

The Cultivating Empowerment by Navigating Towards Stability Project plans to provide legal services, including litigation, and community education to 1,000 low- to moderate-income Central Floridians who are seeking employment. By removing barriers to employment such as sealing/expungement, tax assistance, immigration help, and addressing consumer issues such as debt and credit, this project will ultimately improve financial resiliency, employment, education and savings, all of which will increase the economic development of these individuals and the communities in which they reside.

The Florida Community Development Legal Project adopts a multiprogram statewide approach to the creation of affordable housing, economic stability and wealth creation. It plans to provide transactional legal services to 200 clients who are eligible non-profit organizations on affordable housing and economic development matters, or are low/moderate income entrepreneurs whose businesses create jobs and wealth to the benefit of their families and low/moderate income communities.

The Community Development and Stabilization through Access and Collaboration project will leverage community resources to increase the stability of housing, health, and finances of 800 low-income families in our communities through four projects: 1. The Tenant’s Rights Project assists individuals with legal assistance, including litigation, to protect tenants’ rights to affordable and safe housing. Prospective clients include 1800 subsidized housing units and 183 mobile homes in the service area; 2. The Neighborhood Medical Legal Partnership foresees improvement in health and economic stability for 150 clients through integration of legal professionals into medical treatment; 3. The No Place Like Home Project is designed to assist 50 disaster victim homeowners clear title so that they can receive appropriate benefits and retain housing; 4. The Access Project will continue development and deployment of the Justice on The Block (JOTB) clinics and the Smart Intake Tool (SIT), helps 300 individuals recognize legal issues, seek assistance, and find that assistance closer to home. JOTB mixes traditional clinics with technology to improve the experience and engage more pro bono attorneys in unique ways.

The Legal Assistance for Elderly project will expand community education and litigation services to seniors; the Community Law Library project will partner with the local NAACP chapter to provide legal forms and computer access to low-income members of the community. It is anticipated that 800 clients will be served through these projects.

The John Hamilton Domestic Violence Prevention and Community Economic Project will continue to provide civil legal assistance to Seminole County survivors of domestic violence in order to reduce incidents of domestic violence; improve the economic sufficiency of domestic violence survivors; secure the safety and stability of their children and lower the societal costs of domestic violence, generating substantial economic benefits. This project plans on serving 325 clients.