Oklahoma Bar Journal
Oklahoma Bar Foundation Awards $1.2 Million in IOLTA Grants
The Oklahoma Bar Foundation is excited to announce that $1.2 million in grants will be awarded to 45 nonprofits for fiscal year 2024 program funding. This is the largest amount of grant funding ever given through the annual IOLTA Program. The newly named grantees anticipate helping more than 66,000 Oklahomans next year. How the 45 grantees achieve their individual missions is unique, but they all have one thing in common: a major need for client access to legal representation.
“Every year the OBF receives grant requests from nonprofits that provide crucial law-related services throughout our state to those most in need,” said OBF Grants & Awards Chair Jim Dowell. “Providing essential funding for these organizations is at the core of the OBF’s mission. Hearing the impact of the OBF’s IOLTA grants on the lives of Oklahomans is one of the most rewarding aspects of serving on the OBF board.”
The board-approved increase in grant funds means grantees can better serve their clients with direct access to life-changing legal services. This year, OBF grantee The Spero Project, whose mission is to serve the refugee community in Oklahoma City, received a larger grant amount to hire a full-time staff immigration attorney.
“We are so excited to join this year's IOLTA grant recipients,” said Brad Bandy, founder of The Spero Project. “We are going to maximize this investment by offering immigration legal support for families living with pending immigration status. Our neighbors know the anxiety and desperation every day of living in limbo and uncertainty about their future. ‘We eat and drink with it. ... We sleep with it,’ one woman told me. But when they know that progress is being made in their cases for their families, and especially their children, there’s a sense of hope, and it changes lives. The impact of this work is generational! Thank you for thinking of us and growing with us! We love partnering with the OBF to help our neighbors carry their burdens as we walk into a brighter future. And who knows, we might even get to be the answer to some prayers!”
OBF grantees provide critical legal services across the state to abused and neglected children, domestic violence and human trafficking survivors, refugees and immigrants living in Oklahoma. They also provide court-ordered juvenile and family services programs, adult diversion programs, legal clinics and teen law-related educational programs like the Oklahoma High School Mock Trial Program.
2024 OBF GRANT RECIPIENTS
| Grantee Nonprofit Organization | Program/Project | Service Area | Grant Amount | Lives Impacted |
| 1st Step Male Diversion Program | 1st Step Parenting Course | Tulsa, Creek and Wagoner counties | $15,025 | 25 |
| CASA of Canadian County | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Canadian County | $15,000 | 130 |
| The CARE Center | Child Abuse Forensic Interviewing Program | Oklahoma County | $10,000 | 850 |
| CASA of Southern Oklahoma | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Carter, Love, Murray, Johnston and Marshall counties | $15,000 | 90 |
| CASA for Kids | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Kay, Logan and Payne counties | $15,000 | 164 |
| CASA of Northeast Oklahoma | Family Preservation Project | Craig, Mayes and Rogers counties | $25,000 | 193 |
| CASA of Oklahoma County | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Oklahoma County | $15,000 | 653 |
| CASA of Pawnee/Osage County | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Osage and Pawnee counties | $20,000 | 65 |
| CASA of Western Oklahoma | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Beckham, Custer, Dewey, Roger Mills and Washita counties | $15,000 | 230 |
| Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma | Immigration Legal Services | Muskogee, Osage and Tulsa counties | $25,000 | 800 |
| Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City | Immigration Legal Services | Canadian, Cleveland and Oklahoma counties | $50,000 | 518 |
| Center for Children and Families | Divorce and Co-Parenting Services | Cleveland and Oklahoma counties | $20,000 | 560 |
| Child Abuse Network | Forensic Interviews and Court Advocacy | Okmulgee, Tulsa and Wagoner counties | $20,000 | 1,600 |
| Citizens for Juvenile Justice | Oklahoma County Juvenile Bureau Literacy Initiative | Oklahoma County | $4,399.50 | 100 |
| Citizens for Juvenile Justice | Connect to Redirect Program | Oklahoma County | $4,725 | 1,500 |
| Community Crisis Center | Court Advocates | Ottawa and Delaware counties | $9,945 | 650 |
| Domestic Violence Intervention Services | DVIS Legal Program | Creek and Tulsa counties | $20,000 | 3,871 |
| Garfield County Child Advocacy Council | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Garfield, Kingfisher and Woodward counties | $20,000 | 200 |
| Historical Society of the U.S. District Court | Judicial Learning Center: Significant Cases Program Development | Statewide | $20,000 | 700 |
| Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma | Access to Civil Legal Services | Statewide | $130,000 | 25,000 |
| Marie Detty Youth & Family Services | Domestic and Sexual Violence and Stalking Prevention Services | Caddo, Comanche and Cotton counties | $20,000 | 798 |
| Mary Abbott Children's House | Forensic Interview Program | Cleveland, Garvin and McClain counties | $7,500 | 1,000 |
| Mental Health Association Oklahoma | Special Services Docket | Tulsa County | $25,000 | 240 |
| Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation | Legal Education and Engagement | Statewide | $25,000 | 1,000 |
| Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice | Mental Illness and Criminal Law Handbook | Statewide | $15,000 | 10,000 |
| Oklahoma CASA Association | Training for CASA Volunteers and Local Programs | Statewide | $12,000 | 3,100 |
| OCU School of Law | American Indian Wills Clinic | Statewide | $30,000 | 100 |
| Oklahoma Guardian Ad Litem Institute | GAL Services for Low-Income Children and Families | Statewide | $50,000 | 100 |
| Oklahoma Bar Association | Oklahoma High School Mock Trial Program | Statewide | $50,000 | 800 |
| Oklahoma Lawyers for Families and Children | Family Advocacy Program | Oklahoma and Canadian counties | $130,000 | 3,500 |
| Palomar: Oklahoma City's Family Justice Center | Palomar Legal Network | Cleveland, Oklahoma and Logan counties | $5,000 | 100 |
| The Parent Child Center of Tulsa | Tulsa Safe Babies Court Team | Tulsa County | $20,000 | 210 |
| Pittsburg County Child Abuse Response Effort | Victim's Advocacy and Community Training | Pittsburgh County | $15,000 | 250 |
| ReMerge of Oklahoma County | ReMerge Diversion Program | Statewide | $10,000 | 85 |
| The Spero Project | Refugee Legal Support Services | Canadian, Cleveland and Oklahoma counties | $100,000 | 350 |
| The Spring | Legal Services for Sex Trafficking and Domestic Violence Survivors | Statewide | $15,000 | 2,200 |
| Teen Court | Delinquency Prevention/Peer Court | Comanche County | $30,000 | 1,200 |
| Trinity Legal Clinic of Oklahoma | Community Justice Initiative | Canadian, Cleveland and Oklahoma counties | $65,000 | 300 |
| Tulsa Lawyers for Children | Legal Representation for Abused Children | Tulsa County | $60,000 | 250 |
| The University of Tulsa | TU Law Immigration Programs | Statewide | $58,000 | 800 |
| Western Plains Youth & Family Services | Services for Juveniles in Detention | Ellis, Harper and Woodward counties | $20,000 | 100 |
| YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City | Youth and Government Program | Oklahoma County | $8,000 | 800 |
| Youth and Family Resource Center | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Lincoln and Pottawatomie counties | $10,000 | 47 |
| Youth Services of Tulsa | Youth Court | Tulsa County | $10,000 | 400 |
| YWCA of Tulsa | Immigration Legal Services | Rogers, Tulsa and Wagoner counties | $30,000 | 858 |
| TOTAL: | $1,289,594.50 | 66,487 | ||
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Originally published in the Oklahoma Bar Journal – OBJ 95 Vol 9 (November 2023)
Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.