Legal Aid of West Virginia gets $235,000 in grant funds for pro bono services

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — Legal Aid of West Virginia announced on Monday that it will now receive additional funding thanks to a federal grant program.

Legal Aid of West Virginia (LAWV) is one of 21 legal aid organizations that have recently been awarded a Pro Bono Innovation grant from the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). LAWV will be receiving $235,465 from the grant program, and the LSC said that it awarded $5.4 million to go toward the organizations’ efforts to “expand and improve pro bono legal services for low-income Americans.”

In West Virginia, funds from the grant will help grandparents and kinship caregivers through the Solid Foundations Project with legal needs, the LSC said. According to LAWV, it also plans to use grant funding to help bring in more volunteers to help meet low-income individuals’ high-priority legal needs. Officials said that this effort will include evaluating pro bono services, adding a supervising attorney to lead efforts across the state, and integrating more technology.

“Ensuring every West Virginian has access to legal aid is vital. I am pleased the Legal Services Corporation is investing in the Legal Aid of West Virginia pro bono program to provide low-income West Virginians with legal services, and I will continue to advocate for resources that support every West Virginian in their time of need,” said US Senator Joe Manchin (I-WV).

The LSC said that the grant is designed to help create a network of volunteers who can help people with issues such as job loss, divorce, evictions, scams, debt and being denied benefits when they may not be able to afford a lawyer.

“Civil legal problems have serious consequences and accessing a lawyer has a huge impact on the outcome of a person’s case,” said LSC President Ron Flagg. “The organizations LSC funds work hard to effectively leverage pro bono services to expand the availability of legal assistance and LSC is glad to support their efforts with these grants.”

The LSC said that since the Pro Bono Innovation Fund began 10 years ago, it has awarded 161 grants for a total of $46 million. The grant funding comes from LSC’s congressional appropriation for the fiscal year.

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