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Foundation President’s Message


BAR FOUNDATION
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

 

Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships, Oh My!

Michael R. McElroy, Esq.
President of the Rhode Island Bar Foundation

“…All of our grantees are providing much-needed services and you can all be justifiably proud that our Foundation is funding these good works…”

 

 

Our Grant Program

          The main purpose of your Rhode Island Bar Foundation is to receive the interest earned on your trust accounts and then distribute those funds to worthy non-profit organizations that meet the Foundation’s criteria for awarding grants. Our grant criteria focus primarily on organizations that provide free or reduced-fee legal services to the disadvantaged.

The Foundation’s Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) program makes its grants in four main areas:

  1. Providing legal services to the disadvantaged in Rhode Island;
  2. Improving the delivery of legal services;
  3. Promoting knowledge and awareness of the law; and
  4. Improving the administration of justice.

            Due in large part to the recent increases in interest rates, 2023 was a good year for the Foundation, and our IOLTA interest income substantially exceeded last year’s income.

            In 2023, we made grants totaling just under $400,000, but I am pleased to say that we have now awarded grants for 2024 that total $1 million.

            This year’s grant recipients are as follows:

  • $617,000 to Rhode Island Legal Services (RILS). RILS is Rhode Island’s major civil legal aid provider, providing aid to low-income individuals and families, the elderly, victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, and those affected by the foreclosure crisis in Rhode Island. For over 50 years, RILS has provided civil legal aid to well over 150,000 individuals and families. The funds are used for the Volunteer Lawyer Program, primarily to help support the Family Law and Housing Units. Cases handled include divorce, custody, domestic violence, visitation, evictions, and landlord/tenant issues.
  • $150,339 to Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island. Funds are used by Dorcas to continue the Citizenship & Immigrations Services’ Immigration Law Project. Since 1987, this project has provided free and low-cost comprehensive immigration legal services and education, advocacy and outreach on immigration laws and issues to thousands of immigrants and refugees in the state, as well as the community.
  • $10,000 to Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Funds are used by the Coalition to continue the Superior Court component of their Domestic Violence Victim Advocacy Program in order to help victims seek civil and criminal relief from domestic violence.
  • $9,000 to the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness. Funds are used by the Coalition to fund the Homeless Legal Clinic, which enables homeless Rhode Islanders to have access to pro bono legal services through attorneys who volunteer at homeless shelters and drop-in sites.
  • $15,000 to the Center for Mediation & Collaboration Rhode Island (CMCRI). Funds are used by CMCRI to provide mediation and dispute resolution services to community residents and organizations, regardless of their ability to pay. CMCRI staff and volunteers aid in disputes, both in the community and Small Claims Courts, assist with family and parent teen conflicts, court-involved juveniles, neighbor-to-neighbor, organizational and workplace disputes, landlord-tenant, human rights cases, and small claims matters.
  • $22,500 to the Rhode Island Legal Education Foundation. Funds are used by the Foundation to help support the administration of the Rhode Island Mock Trial Tournament.
  • $65,800 to the Rhode Island Bar Association Legal Information and Referral Service for the Elderly. Funds are used by the Rhode Island Bar Association’s Legal Information and Referral Service for the Elderly to make legal services readily available to senior citizens sixty and over. The program provides legal services that meet the economic and social needs of senior citizens, many of whom face financial crises brought on by catastrophic illnesses, family abandonment, forced retirements, and physical and emotional abuse by family members and/or caretakers. Volunteer attorneys pursue the rights of senior citizens, providing representation in many areas of law, including landlord/tenant, guardianship, probate, health and income maintenance, consumer finance, civil, real estate, family law, and foreclosure. Additionally, seniors receive free advice from volunteer attorneys at scheduled community outreach programs held at senior centers and organizations throughout Rhode Island.
  • $48,000 to the Rhode Island Bar Association Pro Bono Project. Funds are used by the Pro Bono Project for civil law cases including family law/domestic violence, guardianship, bankruptcy, collections, wills, tort defense, landlord/tenant, foreclosure, and conflict cases referred from RI Legal Services. Critically needed legal assistance is provided to poverty-level clients through the Volunteer Lawyer Program and the US Armed Forces Legal Services Project. 
  • $7,500 to Day One. Funds are used by Day One to help support their advocacy services program, which provides support and legal advocacy for victims of sexual assault and provides victims with information and legal advocacy as their case proceeds through the criminal justice system.
  • $6,000 to the Rhode Island Center for Justice. The Center for Justice is an independent, non-profit public interest law center created in cooperation with Roger Williams University Law School. Their mission is to ensure justice for vulnerable individuals, families, and communities through the provision of free legal services and advocacy. Their funding is used for the support of their Lifeline Project, which provides direct free legal assistance to low-income utility consumer households both in administrative proceedings before the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers and in Administrative Procedures Act appeals at the Superior Court. The Lifeline Project is dedicated to providing free legal advocacy and representation to medically vulnerable, low-income households who have experienced or are at risk of termination of electric and gas utility service.
  • $48,861 to Justice Assistance. Funds are used for Project Restoration and Project Victim Services. These projects ensure that victims of crime referred by the state courts receive program services at no cost to them. The projects support the victims of crime by keeping them informed of the status of their case. A case manager assists the victims in communicating with the courts, the police departments, and other criminal justice agencies and, in general, helps the victims navigate all phases of the justice system.

            As you can see, all of our grantees are providing much-needed services and you can all be justifiably proud that our Foundation is funding these good works through the interest earned on your trust accounts.

Our Scholarship Programs

            In addition to providing grants from IOLTA funds, your Foundation also awards law school scholarships and fellowships to deserving law students with strong Rhode Island connections. Our Foundation is able to do this thanks to the generosity of various institutions and individuals that have provided funding for these scholarships and fellowships over the years.

            This year, we will be awarding more scholarships than ever before.

            Our Thomas F. Black Jr. Memorial Scholarship program, primarily funded by the Kimball Foundation and the Champlin Foundation, will award two scholarships of $25,000 each to Rhode Island residents who enroll as first-year students in an American Bar Association-accredited law school. Each scholarship award will be made on the basis of demonstrated financial need, superior academic performance, community and public service, and demonstrated contacts with and commitment to the state of Rhode Island.

            The Foundation will also be awarding for the first time this year two new $25,000 law student scholarships—the Patrice A. Tarantino Memorial Scholarship and the Nicole J. Benjamin Scholarship. The Patrice A. Tarantino Memorial Scholarship was established by former Bar Foundation President John A. Tarantino in memory of his late wife, Pat.

            The Nicole J. Benjamin Scholarship was also established by John Tarantino. It recognizes Nicole’s leadership and other contributions to our legal community and aims to support aspiring legal professionals who exhibit leadership potential and a commitment to service to the community. We are very grateful to John for establishing these two new scholarships.

            Moreover, thanks to funding from the Papitto Opportunity Connection Foundation, two law school scholarships in the amount of $25,000 each will be awarded to candidates who are committed to actively promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in society. Papitto candidates must provide specific examples of strategies that have been undertaken, or will be undertaken, within both the legal profession and the broader community to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. Founded in 2020, the Papitto Opportunity Connection was formed by Barbara Papitto as a continuation of the long-time commitment she and her late husband, Ralph, have made to creating educational opportunities and supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion in Rhode Island.

Our Fellowship Program

            Finally, working with the Roger Williams Law School, your Foundation annually provides two $1,500 fellowship awards in honor of the late Justice Thomas J. Caldarone and another two $1,500 fellowship awards in honor of Foundation Treasurer Emeritus James A. Jackson. Our funding is matched by Roger Willams Law School. These awards assist worthy second-year Roger Williams law students and helps them to intern for the summer at non-profit legal service organizations.

            Our Foundation Fellows also annually make substantial financial contributions to all of our programs, and I am very grateful for the continuing generosity of our Fellows.

            As you can see, your Foundation is dedicated to creating a positive impact for the Rhode Island legal community and supporting the disadvantaged in our state.

 

The Bar Journal assumes no responsibility for opinions, statements, and facts in any article, editorial, column, or book review, except to the extent that, by publication, the subject matter merits attention. Neither the opinions expressed in any article, editorial, column, or book review nor their content represent the official view of the Rhode Island Bar Association or the views of its members.