© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(Oct. 6) – The Texas Access to Justice Foundation recently announced grants totaling more than $3.5 million that will help fund legal aid services for Texas veterans.
The funds will go to 16 nonprofit organizations, including Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Lone Star Legal Aid, Texas Legal Services Center and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas.
The 84th Texas Legislature provided $3 million in funding over the next two years. The Texas Access to Justice Commission, through its Champions of Justice Gala, raised more than $400,000 in 2014 from law firms and corporate sponsors to dedicate to legal aid for Texas veterans.
Last year, TAJF helped approximately 7,000 veterans obtain access to the justice system, according to a press release issued by TAJF.
“With Texas having the second-highest population of veterans, it is essential that we provide legal services for those who have sacrificed so much for our country,” Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, the Court’s access to justice liaison, said in a statement. “Local legal aid programs for veterans are gateways to the justice system for many veterans and their families.”
The complete list of organizations receiving the TAJF grant awards for civil legal services to veterans and their families for 2015-17 are:
Austin Bar Foundation – $127,800
Baylor Law School Veterans’ Assistance Clinic – $108,000
Beacon Law – $108,000
Community Justice Program – $88,000
Equal Justice Works – $51,000
Fort Bend Lawyers Care – $80,000
Houston Bar Foundation – $187,400
Jefferson County Bar Association Foundation – $80,000
Legal Aid of Northwest Texas – $261,655
Lone Star Legal Aid, Inc. – $693,690
Oficina Legal del Pueblo Unido, Inc. – $260,800
South Texas College of Law Civil Practice Clinics – $108,000
Tarrant County Bar Foundation – $80,000
Texas A&M Research Foundation – Law School Clinic – $108,000
Texas Legal Services Center – $348,000
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid – $900,000
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