Illinois Bar Foundation

[caption id="attachment_2881" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Board member and ISBA 2nd Vice President John Locallo of Chicago presents a $25,000 check to Al Schwartz, CARPLS Executive Director. "][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $25,000 grant to CARPLS Legal Aid, one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995 and the largest grant awarded. CARPLS is an innovative legal aid service that offers an immediate response to the every day legal problems confronting low-income residents of Cook County. CARPLS' Legal Aid Hotline and court-based Advice Desks give low-income clients direct access to attorneys who are trained to quickly assess and respond to a wide range of civil legal problems. CARPLS' unique legal triage system serves as a model for legal aid services across the county and increases access to justice by dramatically reducing the cost of legal services for the poor. This year, CARPLS assisted more than 50,000 low income clients. As the charitable affiliate of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Foundation's mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity.

[caption id="attachment_2603" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Grants Committee Member Lori Levin of Chicago presents an $8,000 grant to Gail Smith, CLAIM's Executive Director."][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $8,000 grant to Chicago Legal Advocacy to Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995. CLAIM provides legal and educational services to imprisoned mothers and their children's caregivers. CLAIM's On-Site Services provide intensive individual legal advice and representation to mothers in Dwight, Lincoln, Decatur and Kankakee Correctional Centers, Fox Valley Adult Transitional Center, the Metropolitan Correctional Center and in Cook County Jail. With early legal advice, provision of short-term guardianship forms and representation for court-ordered guardianship, mothers can forge sound plans for their children and in many cases can avoid foster care placement. In 2008, CLAIM represented 450 women, up 38 percent from 2007.

[caption id="attachment_2169" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Grants Committee Member Judge Nancy Katz of Chicago presents a $10,000 grant to Kendra Reinshagen, Executive Director of Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago. "][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $10,000 grant to Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family Services in Chicago, one of 32 grants awarded in 2009 totaling $304,995. Founded in 1886, the Legal Aid Bureau (LAB) of Metropolitan Family Services (MFS) is the oldest provider of legal services to low-income people in Chicago and the second oldest in the country. LAB provides free legal assistance to the impoverished, domestic violence victims, children and the elderly. This grant specifically supports LAB’s Poverty Law Project located at Metropolitan Family Services’ Midway and Calumet Community Centers, providing community-based consumer and housing law advice, representation and education to underserved residents of Chicago’s south side. As the charitable affiliate of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Foundation’s mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity.

[caption id="attachment_1547" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Grants Committee Member Ann Hatch of Belleville presents a $15,000 grant to Kathleen O’Keefe, attorney for the Neighborhood Law Office. "][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $15,000 grant to Catholic Urban Program's Neighborhood Law Office in East St. Louis, one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995. The Neighborhood Law Office works with residents of East St. Louis to create healthy, safe and strong neighborhoods to stabilize and revitalize a decaying city. NLO brings about demolition of unsafe, abandoned structures, pressures local government for prompt and universal property code enforcement, and saves homes from foreclosure under predatory bond-for-deed home loan practices. Since 1996, NLO has helped bring about the demolition of more than 1600 dangerous, vacant buildings and removal of illegally dumped trash from over 280 lots. As the charitable affiliate of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Foundation's mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity. This past year, through the support of ISBA members, IBF distributed more than $425,000 to support these efforts.