On December 2, 2021, the Board of Directors unanimously approved 24 grants to 23 non-profit organizations totaling $1,330,188.  

These grants were made possible by a state appropriation for civil legal aid housed that passes through the budget of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation (Alton, Champaign, East St. Louis, Carbondale and Springfield) ($265,000)

  • To provide low-income people in 65 counties with representation on family and consumer law cases ($215,000).
  • To serve thousands of low-income people in central and southern Illinois by providing legal advice, self-help materials, guidance on how to use the court system and referrals through a telephone hotline ($50,000).

Prairie State Legal Services (Bloomington, Galesburg, Joliet, Kankakee, McHenry, Ottawa, Peoria, Rockford, Rock Island, St. Charles, Waukegan and Wheaton) ($235,000)

To serve thousands of low-income people in 36 counties in northern and central Illinois by providing legal advice, self-help materials, guidance on how to use the court system and referrals through a telephone hotline.

Coordinated Advice & Referral Program for Legal Services (Cook County) ($150,000)

To help tens of thousands of low-income people in Cook County by providing legal advice, self-help materials, guidance on how to use the court system and referrals through a telephone hotline.

Legal Aid Chicago (Cook County) ($125,000)

To support attorney positions in the consumer practice group who provide civil legal assistance on consumer and foreclosure matters to senior citizens and low-income families in Cook County.

Illinois Legal Aid Online (Statewide) ($90,000)

To support the development and provision of critical, reliable and user-friendly web-based legal information to Illinoisans facing legal problems.

Equip for Equality (Chicago, Rock Island, Carbondale & Springfield) ($75,000)

To provide legal advice, information and referrals on special education issues through a statewide telephone helpline.

Center for Conflict Resolution (Cook County) ($65,000)

To assist thousands of Cook County residents resolve a wide array of disputes through mediation services.

Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (Cook County) ($45,188)

To protect children by serving as Guardian Ad Litem in probate guardianship cases and as a Child Representative in domestic relations cases.

Cabrini Green Legal Aid (Cook County) ($40,000)

To assist individuals wishing to expunge arrest records and/or seal non-violent, misdemeanor convictions in order to obtain employment and attain economic self-sufficiency via outposts at the Richard J. Daley Center, the Markham Courthouse and the Juvenile Temporary Center.

Greater Chicago Legal Clinic (Cook County) ($40,000)

To provide direct representation to working class people with family law issues.

Ascend Justice (Cook County) ($20,000)

To provide civil legal assistance to parents and caregivers wrongly accused of abuse and neglect.

Dispute Resolution Institute (Carbondale) ($20,000)

To help low-income families resolve custody and visitation issues with mediation services in the First Judicial Circuit.

Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services (Chicago) ($20,000)

To provide legal advice and representation to tenants who are in jeopardy of losing their subsidized housing vouchers.

Legal Council for Health Justice (Chicago) ($20,000)

To provide legal advice and representation to lower-income families, seniors, immigrants, veterans and homeless people facing complex legal issues due to disabilities and special health needs.

Life Span (Cook County) ($20,000)

To provide culturally-sensitive legal representation to Arab-American domestic violence survivors.

Uptown Peoples Law Center (Uptown neighborhood/Chicago) ($20,000)

To provide civil legal assistance to Uptown residents with social security disability benefits issues.

Beyond Legal Aid (Cook County) ($15,000)

To provide family law assistance to low-income people at six community-embedded sites.

Public Interest Law Initiative (Statewide) ($15,000)

To support self-represented litigant help desks in four counties in the Sixth and Tenth Judicial Circuits, to support virtual pro bono assistance via Free Legal Answers, to support a school and to support the “Legal Help Within Reach” project, which brings lawyers from urban areas to rural areas to provide pro bono legal assistance.

Center for Disability and Elder Law (Cook County) ($10,000)

To support a self-help litigant desk providing adult guardianship guidance.

Chicago House and Social Service Agency (Chicago) ($10,000)

To support TransLegal and its self-help legal assistance to the transgender community.

Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (Cook County and northern collar counties) ($10,000)

To support community legal education workshops in partnership with the Mexican Consulate in Chicago and their mobile unit.

North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic (Lake and Cook Counties) ($10,000)

To support civil legal assistance to domestic violence survivors.

James B Moran Center for Youth Advocacy (Evanston) ($10,000)                                                                        To support civil legal assistance to low-income families in three elementary schools.