The DC Bar Foundation administers two grant programs supporting legal services providers, the Publicly-funded Legal Services Grant Program and the Private/IOLTA Grant Program. 

Access to Justice Grants

Pursuant to a ground-breaking appropriation by the DC City Council secured by the DC Access to Justice Commission, the DC Bar Foundation awarded in 2007 15 grants totaling $2.89 million to legal services providers in the District to increase the number of lawyers doing housing work and to bring more lawyers into underserved communities in the District.  In 2008, the Bar Foundation awarded a total of $2.79 million in second-year funding under this program, and in 2009, a total of $3.13 million.  The 2010 recipients of Access to Justice Grants are listed below.  NeighborhoodInfo DC prepared a map of legal services offices in DC,   illustrating how legal services are now more accessible in some of the neediest neighborhoods in our city.   Each grantee must file quarterly reports.  Copies of the report form in writable format can be requested from the Foundation. 

Ayuda – Legal Services Community Interpreter Bank

(in collaboration with APALRC, La Clínica del Pueblo, Legal Aid Society of DC, Washington College of Law)

Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center - Housing & Community Justice Project

Bread for the City – SE Community Lawyering Project

Children’s Law Center – Southeast Health Access Project

Court-Based Legal Services Project – awards to Bread for the City, Legal Aid Society of DC

(funding lawyers in Landlord-Tenant Court)

DC Law Students in Court – Support for Court-Based Legal Services Project

Legal Aid Society of DC – Southeast Communit Lawyering Project

Legal Counsel for the Elderly – Project HELP

(legal services for homebound elders)

Neighborhood Legal Services Program

(funding lawyers in Wards 5, 7, and 8)

University Legal Services – DC Jail Access Project

(in collaboration with DC Prisoners Project of the Washington Lawyers Committee)

WEAVE – NE Lighthouse Center for Healing - Legal Services Project

Whitman Walker Legal Clinic – Southeast DC Legal Clinic

DC Legal Services Grant Program

The DC Bar Foundation makes annual grants in June of each year to legal services providers in the District of Columbia.  These grants are supported by IOLTA funds received in the District, and by the generous contributions of DC law firms and lawyers, and others  These grants provide general support and program-specific support to legal service providers, and support cross-cutting grants and technical assistance for grantees.  Click here   for general information on applying for an DC Legal Services Grant.

The DC Bar Foundation awarded grants to 23 organizations in June 2010.  The organizations listed below, presented in alphabetical order, are current recipients of DC Bar Foundation grants.

DC LEGAL SERVICES - FY10 Grantees

Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc.

Archdiocesan Legal Network of Catholic Charities of the

                   Archdiocese of Washington

Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center

Ayuda, Inc.

Bread for the City Legal Clinic

Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition

The Children’s Law Center

Columbus Community Legal Services

Disability Rights Project – Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs

D.C. Employment Justice Center

D.C. Law Students in Court Program

D.C. Prisoners' Project - Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs

DV LEAP

Legal Aid Society of D.C.

Legal Aid Society of D.C. – Appellate Litigation Project

Legal Counsel for the Elderly

Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project

Neighborhood Legal Services Program

Our Place, D.C.

University Legal Services

University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law -

           Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless

Whitman-Walker Clinic Legal Services Program

Women Empowered Against Violence