San Francisco — January 12, 2011 — The California Bar Foundation recently awarded 16 grants totaling $221,000 to organizations providing legal services and education across the state. The awards focus on projects serving rural areas of the state, where the availability of legal services is limited, and language access projects that address the needs of California's multi-lingual residents — two areas of particularly great need for the legal services community.

"In today's challenging economic climate, the need for legal services is greater than ever, especially outside the major metropolitan areas and in minority communities where language-accessible resources are scarce," said Douglas A. Winthrop, president of the Foundation's Board of Directors. "We have targeted our latest round of grant awards at projects that address the most critical aspects of the 'justice gap' and provide innovative and effective models for the delivery of legal services in underserved communities. We are deeply grateful for the significant financial support the Foundation has received from California's legal community to enable us to fund these important programs."

The Foundation is awarding its largest grant — $25,000 over two years — to the Public Interest Clearinghouse (re-launching as OneJustice in March 2011) to support the Southern California expansion of the nonprofit's unique Justice Bus project that brings urban law students to staff free legal clinics in rural areas of the state. Created in 2007, the Justice Bus has effectively expanded the capacity of local legal services organizations to meet the growing needs of low-income residents of rural communities in Northern California. By relying on law student volunteers, the program provides valuable hands-on experience to the students and educates them about the critical need for pro bono assistance throughout rural California, a lesson that will inspire them throughout their legal careers. The project will expand partnerships with law schools and rural legal services organizations in the southern part of the state.

"The California Bar Foundation has once again demonstrated its leadership in championing full and equal access to justice for all Californians," said William N. Hebert, president of the State Bar of California. "What makes the Foundation unique is its responsiveness to our state's citizens who cannot afford legal services. The Foundation works with the legal services community to identify the state's most pressing needs and then directs its resources to support organizations that effectively address those needs. These grant awards highlight the innovative ways in which many nonprofit organizations are working to close the enormous justice gap California faces."

The Foundation's $20,000 grant to the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) recognizes the challenges of serving clients with limited English proficiency. APALC's Self-Help Family Workshops will provide education on dissolution, domestic violence, and other legal matters to members of Orange County's Vietnamese and other Asian communities, many of whom speak limited English, at two self-help centers. A $20,000 grant to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center's Report Representation Pilot Project will fund six centers throughout the Central Valley that will provide legal services, including immigration relief, to victims of domestic and other violence. The Legal Aid of Sonoma's REACH project, the recipient of a $10,000 grant, will bring services to two underserved groups in Sonoma County's poorest and most rural communities, low-income Spanish-speaking immigrants and Native Americans.

For a complete list of 2010-2011 grant recipients, please click here.

The Foundation's latest round of grant awards supports projects to be carried out in 2011. Since the Foundation began its grants program in 1991, it has distributed more than $5.4 million for law-related access to justice, education, and outreach projects to community organizations, legal aid agencies, courts, bar associations, and the State Bar of California.

About the California Bar Foundation
The California Bar Foundation is committed to building a better justice system for all Californians. We champion full and equal access to the justice system, invest in the next generation of California's lawyers, educate Californians about their rights and responsibilities under the law, and promote philanthropy throughout the legal community. A nonprofit founded in 1990 and affiliated with the State Bar of California, the Foundation annually awards grants to California organizations conducting innovative law-related projects and scholarships to outstanding California law school students. For more information, please visit our website at www.calbarfoundation.org.

Media Contact:
Leslie Hatamiya
Executive Director
(415) 856-0780 ext. 303
lhatamiya@calbarfoundation.org