With funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation awarded $1,704,475 in grants to 12 nonprofit organizations to provide legal information, advice, representation and mediation services to Illinoisans impacted by the threat of eviction via Eviction Help Illinois. Funds were also awarded to maintain technological access channels for user-friendly service delivery. Eviction Help Illinois services can be accessed by phone, text or virtual assistant.
Civil Legal Assistance Grants ($1,349,000)
Land of Lincoln Legal Aid ($675,000)
To provide legal information, advice and representation on housing matters throughout 65 central and southern Illinois counties.
Prairie State Legal Services ($440,000)
To provide legal information, advice and representation on housing matters throughout 36 northern and central Illinois counties.
Chicago Volunteer Legal Services ($50,000)
To provide legal advice to landlords statewide working to collect unpaid rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic ($60,000)
To provide legal aid to residents of Lake and north suburban Cook County impacted by eviction.
Legal Aid Chicago ($44,000)
To provide legal aid on eviction matters to residents of south and west suburban Cook County.
Legal Aid Society of Metropolitan Family Services ($32,000)
To provide legal information, advice and representation on eviction matters in DuPage County.
Metropolitan Tenants Organization ($18,000)
To provide legal information, advice and representation on eviction matters statewide.
The Network : Advocating Against Domestic Violence ($30,000)
To provide legal information, advice and representation on eviction matters for victims of domestic violence statewide.
Mediation Grants ($267,475)
Dispute Resolution Institute ($187,475)
To staff eviction mediation programs in the First, Sixth and Twentieth Judicial Circuits as well as providing mediation services to resolve court-based rental assistance disputes. Administers mediator payment process.
Resolution Systems Institute ($80,000)
To support eviction mediation programs in Kane County and to provide mediation services to resolve court-based rental assistance disputes.
Technological Service Delivery Solutions ($88,000)
Illinois Legal Aid Online ($60,000)
To maintain an SMS short-code text access channel that will direct users in English and Spanish who need legal representation to the organization’s Online Triage Intake System (OTIS) to apply for help electronically and to expand OTIS to include all Eviction Help IL civil legal aid grantees.
Coordinated Advice & Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS) ($28,000)
To maintain a Virtual Assistant/Chatbot to connect people in eviction crisis to legal information, rental assistance and legal aid and mediation programs across Illinois; to maintain the technology to connect three regional legal aid hotlines; and to maintain a website to house all the access channels for Eviction Help Illinois services.
###
07/27/23