Boston Bar Foundation Announces Grants of $1.1 Million
Boston, MA – August 29, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Boston Bar Foundation (BBF) today announced grants totaling $1.1 million to 25 Massachusetts community organizations providing a wide variety of core legal services — from domestic violence and immigration to housing and homelessness. The $1.1 million represents an almost $50,000 increase in core legal services grants, compared with F.Y. ’10.
“Even as we envision expanding our support for innovative projects benefiting the community, access to justice continues to be an essential part of our mission,” said BBF President John D. Donovan. “The grants we announce today would not be possible without the generosity of lawyers, law firms, and business people who value the BBF’s unique place in this community.”
37 per cent of the funds used to disburse the grants announced today will come from the BBF John & Abigail Adams Benefit held earlier this year, and also from BBF reserves. The remainder will come from Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts, a traditional source of funding for legal aid nationally.
The BBF received applications requesting a total of $1,668,669 from forty organizations.
“We scrutinize each and every grant application we receive,” said Joel B. Sherman, Co-Chair of the 13 member BBF Grants Committee, and a Director at Goulston & Storrs. “Our goal is to maximize the impact of a limited sum of money.”
The lawyers serving on the BBF Grants Committee have an in-depth understanding of the community as well as the credibility, capability and capacity of grant applicants. “We have an obligation to ensure that money granted by the BBF is put to work prudently,” said Sherman.
The following organizations received BBF grants ranging from $5,000 to $385,000:
Boston Medical Center Corporation
Brazilian Immigrant Center
Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc.
Centro Presente, Inc.
Children’s Law Center Of Massachusetts Inc.
Urban Revival, Inc. d/b/a City Life/Vida Urbana
Community Legal Services and Counseling Center, Inc.
East Boston Ecumenical Community Council, Inc. (EBECC)
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS)
Irish International Immigration Center
Lawyers Clearinghouse
Lawyers Committee For Civil Rights Under Law (LCCR)
Legal Advocacy and Resource Center, Inc. (LARC)
Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC)
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI)
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health (MassCOSH)
MetroWest Legal Services, Inc.
Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc.
Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR)
Prisoners Legal Services
RESPOND, Inc.
Shelter Legal Services Foundation, Inc.
Tri-City Community Action Program, Inc. (Tri-CAP)
Victim Rights Law Center (VRLC)
Women’s Bar Foundation (WBF)
The Boston Bar Association is a non-profit, voluntary membership organization of 10,000 attorneys drawn from private practice, corporations, government agencies, legal aid organizations, the courts, and law schools. It traces its origins to meetings convened by John Adams, the lawyer who provided pro bono representation to the British soldiers prosecuted for the Boston Massacre and went on to become the second president of the United States.
Contact:
Bonnie Sashin, APR
Communications Director
(617) 778-1902
