Louisville Bar Foundation

Kentucky Refugee Ministries - Immigration Legal Services: Kentucky Refugee Ministries provides legal services to immigrants who have resettled in the Louisville area. Many of these immigrants need to file applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for permanent residence status or to petition for asylum. In recent years the number of requests for legal assistance far exceeded staff capacity, creating backlogs and waiting lists. The LBF grant will provide funds for KRM to strategically build staff capacity to meet this increased need and reduce the backlog and wait time. The grant also provides partial fee subsidies for immigrants who cannot afford to pay the entire cost of preparing and filing these documents.

Legal Aid Society - Doctors & Lawyers for Kids: Doctors & Lawyers for Kids is a collaborative effort of the Legal Aid Society, LBA, U of L Pediatrics, and Family Health Centers that assists children from low-income families by training healthcare providers to recognize unmet legal needs that affect patient health and by having free legal services available to families in need. LBF funds will be used to support services to the Smoketown Family Wellness Center and other pediatric settings.

Legal Aid Society - Violence Intervention and Prevention Project: Legal Aid Society has a long tradition of serving the civil legal needs of low-income individuals and families in Metro Louisville. Its Violence Intervention and Prevention is a new program to provide legal information and representation to interrupt and redress violent crime in Metro Louisville. It will offer direct civil legal services to low-income survivors of violent injury and work to eliminate barriers these survivors face when seeking legal assistance and victims' rights enforcement. LBF funds will serve as a "match" to leverage other funds for staffing this new program.

Catholic Charities of Louisville - Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services helps low-income refugees and immigrants living in Kentucky obtain legal assistance. The LBF grant will allow refugees and immigrants solve immigration and/or employment status issues so to achieve or maintain financial stability and economic independence.

La Casita Center - Legal Outreach and Clinic Services - In addition to the numerous social, nutritional, and cultural programs La Casita Center provides in the Latino immigrant community, it specifically conducts outreach to Latina women and families in need of legal services. Through its targeted outreach and legal clinics, participants receive help on understanding the legal system, immigration issues, family law matters and other legal problems. LBF funds will support the Center's targeted outreach to the Latino community and the development of a pro bono attorney panel to assist program participants in understanding legal problems and how resolve them.

U of L School of Law - Ackerson Law Clinic Mediation Program - The Ackerson Law Clinic at the University of Louisville's Brandeis School of Law offers students who have completed initial course requirements the opportunity for practical experience by representing clients under the supervision of clinical instructors. The Mediation Program allows students to apply their mediation skills to assist low-income clients on issues which traditionally complicate and delay judicial resolution of Family Court disputes - custody, visitation, child support. LBF funds support and will help expand this program designed to help the underserved population, to improve the efficiency of Family Courts, and to enhance the practical skills of law students.

Access Justice - Expungement Clinics - Since 2014, Access Justice has provided free legal services through weekly or monthly clinics to low-income individuals and families throughout metro Louisville. With a network of over forty volunteer attorneys and with an office in the Portland neighborhood, Access Justice's legal clinics educate participants on how to resolve a broad range of legal problems. LBF's grant will provide funds to allow Access Justice to reach and serve individuals in need of expungements.

Kentucky to the World - The Central High School Law and Government Program has been a model "Street Law" program and has successfully educated hundreds of students about the role of law and inspired many to pursue legal careers. A grant from the LBF, along with charitable contributions from lawyers and law firms in Kentucky, will help fund a film documentary that celebrates the success of this program and shows why such programs are valuable in creating diversity in the legal profession. Kentucky to the World, a non-profit organization focused on elevating the success stories of people and programs in the Commonwealth, serves as the fiscal agent for this film production.

Casa of the River Region - CASA provides advocacy services to children with active cases in Family Court. To increase the number of volunteer advocates, CASA must continually train and provide education. The LBF grant will support CASA's "Advocacy Academy" program and increase its number of trainings to boost volunteer's advocacy skillset and the understanding of interrelated child welfare, justice and medical systems.

Mother's Esquire - Legal Eagles: Teaching Children about Legal Jobs - Mothers Esquire is a local non-profit with a national network of over 7,500 members advocating for policies that promote gender equity in the legal profession and practices that encourage retention of attorney talent during caregiving years. LBF funds will support the development and implementation of a school curriculum that teaches about the diverse roles and responsibilities of lawyers in society, using the popular children's book, "My Mom, the Lawyer," as the basis of lesson plans. The curriculum will be accessible online via the Mothers Esquire website and will include age-appropriate content for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and students in grades 1 - 5.

Louisville Bar Association - The Summer Law Institute is a six-day intensive program for high school students to learn about law. The Institute is conducted by the LBA's Public Service Committee in partnership with the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law and Bellarmine University. The program provides high school students with an opportunity to interact with prominent local attorneys, judges and professors. It is designed to attract talented, ambitious students who are interested in a career in the legal profession. LBF grant monies will cover a portion of the direct costs of the program, thereby keeping the tuition affordable.

Family & Children's Place - The Child Advocacy Center at the Family and Children's Place is the only facility of its kind in Kentucky providing services to child victims up to age 17 with compassionate, coordinated intervention and investigation of child sex abuse. The LBF grant will be used to pay expenses for a highly trained forensic interviewer to record a child's testimony and for lab kits used to gather and preserve evidence for later use at trial in prosecuting child sexual offenses.

Mattingly Edge - Educational Trainings on Alternatives to Guardianships - Mattingly Edge develops partnerships that enables people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to thrive at work, home, and in relationships. It also offers trainings and education on legal structures that help support people with IDD in the least restrictive manner. The LBF grant will fund trainings by Mattingly Edge, working in coordination with the Jefferson County District Court, Division of Guardianship, that will educate parents and school officials on less restrictive alternatives to guardianship, such as Supported Decision Making. These trainings will help families understand options available to them, other than guardianship to support a person with IDD.

KY YMCA Youth Association - Civic and Leadership Development - Kentucky YMCA Youth Association's conferences bridge classroom civics education with the personal understanding of our state's branches of government. These experimental learning programs allow teens to meet their peers from throughout the state as they learn about the legislative process, understand the judicial and executive branches. The LBF grant will provide funds to make attendance and participation at these statewide conferences available to public school students in low-income communities which otherwise would not have access.

YMCA of Greater Louisville - YNOW Mentoring Program - YMCA Safe Place focuses on breaking the generational cycle of incarceration by providing youth who have an incarcerated or substance dependent parent with a mentoring program that engages the youth with a one-on-one trusted adult. The mentoring program is designed to help the youth overcome those barriers to success that result from the loss of adult guidance and financial stability. LBF grant funds will support a focused mentoring program for youth impacted by parental substance abuse, overdose and death.

The Healing Place - Many of the clients who come to the Healing Place for addiction recovery are involved in Jefferson County's court system. The Peer Mentor Program at The Healing Place enlists men and women who have completed the program to serve as role models and mentors for those newer participants. These peer mentors provide one-on-one counseling and support. In particular, peer mentors help participants comply with court dates, court orders and other issues related to the justice system. LBF funds will support the Peer Mentor Program as it increases the chances of a participant's successful recovery and the efficient resolution of court issues.

Legal Aid Society - Greenwald Family Legal Aid Internship Program - The Greenwald Family Legal Aid Internship Fund at the LBF is a memorial fund to honor Murray J. Greenwald, Peggy Hirsch Greenwald, and Brooke Greenwald Cohen. Each year the Fund provides a stipend for a University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law student to work at the Legal Aid Society and to be educated on the practical aspects of the law. The goal of the internship is not only to provide needed support for the program, but is a meaningful way that the Greenwald family can pass on their passion for public service to the next generation of lawyers.

Louisville Bar Association - Legal Opportunity Scholarships - The LBA's Diversity and Inclusion Section annually awards Legal Opportunity Scholarships to encourage and provide financial assistance to students at University of Louisville's Brandeis School of Law who have historically been underrepresented in the legal profession. The award recipients are selected based on a review of applicant's educational background, personal statements and participation in community service activities. The grant from the LBF will fund scholarships in 2024.