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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 21, 2020 – The Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund presented its annual grants, providing a total of $200,000 to 18 law-related organizations and programs in Orange County. Since 1998, the OCBA Charitable Fund has provided over $2.3 million in grants to law-related charities in Orange County.
The OCBA Charitable Fund annually provides grants for critically needed services to a broad range of clients, including victims of domestic violence, legal services for low-income residents of Orange County and veterans, and diversity pipe-line efforts. This year’s projects additionally support gang reduction and intervention, expand access to legal education, and enhances immigration and homeless assistance services.
A special reception for grant recipients was held on Feb. 19, 2020, at the OCBA office in Newport Beach, Calif. Attorney Nikki Miliband, 2019 OCBA Charitable Fund Board President, presented the grants to recipients on behalf of the OCBA Charitable Fund.
The OCBA Charitable Fund extends its appreciation to the donors, sponsors, and volunteers who have helped to make this work possible through their support of its mission – to enhance the system of justice in Orange County and promote access to equal justice for all.
See the complete list of grant recipients below.
CALIFORNIA YOUTH CONNNECTION Project: Creating Leaders From Within Grant Awarded: $2,500 Providing a transformative experience for current and former foster youth through its dual goals of empowering youth and improving foster care.
CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY DALE E. FOWLER SCHOOL OF LAW Project: Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic Grant Awarded: $6,000 Provides free legal representation, legal advice, and pro per workshops to indigent and low-income people and survivors of family violence, sexual assault, and trafficking.
COLLABORATIVE COURTS FOUNDATION Project: Participant Assistance Project Grant Awarded: $10,000 Provides court-requested assistance to participants in the various Collaborative Court programs such as Drug Court, DUI Court, Veterans & Military Diversion Courts and numerous Mental Health Courts.
COMMUNITY LEGAL AID SOCAL (FORMERLY LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY) Project: Collaborative Court Partnership Project Grant Awarded: $40,000 Provides on-site screening and “legal check ups” relating to civil legal matters for individuals at the collaborative courts, performs intakes for eligible individuals, and provides referrals to pro bono attorneys for ineligible individuals.
CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION – ORANGE COUNTY (CRF-OC) Project: Civic Education Grant Awarded: $40,000 Provides civic and law-related educational programs made available to all high school students in Orange County including Mock Trial, Peer Court, Constitution Day, Law Day, and the Orange County Career Forum.
COURT–APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA) Project: Mentor Advocate Program Grant Awarded: $4,000 Provides a voice for youth in the child welfare system through a unique one-on-one relationship with trained and supervised court appointed volunteer advocates.
ELDER LAW & DISABILITY RIGHTS CENTER (ELDR) Project: Youth Advocacy Project Grant Awarded: $7,000 Provides community legal education, advocacy, and representation to disabled children and their families in the area of special education law.
HUMAN OPTIONS Project: Legal Advocacy Program Grant Awarded: $5,000 Provides victims of domestic violence and late life family violence with education on legal rights, court accompaniment and support, direct assistance and resources.
LAURA’S HOUSE Project: Legal Advocacy Program Grant Awarded: $5,000 Provides victims of domestic violence with a broad range of services and support to assist them in understanding and securing their legal rights so they can lead safe, productive, and violence-free lives.
OCBF PROJECT YOUTH Project: Project SELF Grant Awarded: $3,500 Provides low-income and at-risk high school students with hands on internships in the legal field.
Project: Project Youth/Shortstop Grant Awarded: $2,500 Provides a juvenile crime diversion program for at-risk Orange County youth and their families to prevent youth delinquency from escalating into chronic criminal behavior.
ORANGE COUNTY GANG REDUCTION AND INTERNVENTION PARTNERSHIP (OC GRIP FOUNDATION) Grant Awarded: $5,000 Provides a partnership program between the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement to prevent at-risk minors in grades fourth through eighth from joining a criminal street gang and promotes opportunity and education to help students make the right choices.
ORANGE COUNTY JUSTICE FUND Grant Awarded: $2,000 Coordinates efforts among the legal community to enhance deportation defense services.
PUBLIC LAW CENTER (PLC) Project: Orange County Expanded Domestic Violence Assistance Project Grant Awarded: $25,000 Provides free civil legal services, including counseling, individual representation, community education, strategic litigation, and advocacy to challenge societal injustices.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE SCHOOL OF LAW Project: Pre-Law Outreach Program (POP) Grant Awarded: $2,500 Provides assistance to undergraduate students from disadvantaged backgrounds to prepare for the law school application and admissions process, and to understand the unique demands of legal education.
Project: Saturday Academy of Law (SAL) Grant Awarded: $5,000 Provides an educational pipeline program for underserved 9th grade students from Santa Ana, Anaheim, and Garden Grove school districts.
VETERANS LEGAL INSTITUTE Project: Pro Bono Veterans Legal Mobile Clinics Grant Awarded: $30,000 Provides pro bono legal assistance to homeless, at risk, disabled, and low-income veterans and service members. Seeks to eradicate barriers to housing, education, employment, and healthcare and to foster self-sufficiency.
WOMEN’S TRANSITIONAL LIVING CENTER (WTLC) Project: Survivor Immigration Legal Services Grant Awarded: $5,000 Assists individuals and families to escape the depths of domestic violence and exploitation, and specifically assists survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking with immigration relief such as U-Visas, T-Visas, and VAWA petitions.
About the Orange County Bar Association Established in 1901, the Orange County Bar Association, with over 8,500 members, is one of the largest voluntary bars in California. The mission of the Orange County Bar Association is to enhance the system of justice, to support the lawyers who serve it, and to assist the community served by it.
About the Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund Founded in 1995 as the charitable giving and fundraising arm of the Orange County Bar Association, the OCBA Charitable Fund provides resources to organizations and programs in order to enhance the system of justice in Orange County and promote access to equal justice for all. Over the last decade, the OCBA Charitable Fund has provided over $1.2 million in grants to law-related charities in Orange County.
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