MJF announces $241K in Access to Justice Grants

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Montana Justice Foundation and CASA: A powerful partnership for Montana kids

The Montana Justice Foundation is proud to announce the 2021-2022 recipients of our Access to Justice Grants. This past year, MJF made new awards totaling $241,500 to 15 nonprofit organizations across the state. Our grant programs serve ordinary Montanans: children in foster care, families working to make ends meet, veterans denied hard-earned benefits, seniors, and survivors escaping abusive and violent environments. We support projects that help people stay in stable housing, receive medical care, and get back onto a path of safety and financial security.
Many of our grantee organizations provide direct legal representation, such as Montana Legal Services Association, Cascade County Law Clinic, and programs that serve survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, such as SAFE Harbor of Ronan and the YWCAs in Billings and Missoula. However, the range of services provided by our grantees includes so much more. Montana Justice Foundation grants went to the mediation programs at the Billings Mediation Center and the Community Dispute Resolution Center in Missoula, the housing discrimination program at Montana Fair Housing in Butte, and the Montana Innocence Project’s wrongful conviction program. MJF also awarded a grant to the International Rescue Committee in Missoula, allowing them to continue providing low- and no-fee immigration services to refugees, asylees, and immigrants throughout the state. And as Montana continues to grapple with the pandemic recovery – and many communities face alarming increases in child abuse and neglect cases, in particular – Montana Justice Foundation continues to provide funding to Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) programs to ensure that children have a voice as they navigate the legal system. [See Montana Justice Foundation and CASA: Powerful Partnership for Children starting on page 12] 
Funding for our Access to Justice Grants is made possible through the generous support of our donors and the Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. MJF is grateful to attorneys for maintaining their IOLTA accounts, which helps us provide funding to impactful legal aid programs across our state. 

MJF Grant Recipients
The following organizations have received Montana Justice Foundation Access to Justice Grants.