Contact: Andrew Rush
Director, Media Services & Public Affairs
arush@nysba.org
518/487-5530

July 23, 2007

CHARITABLE AND EDUCATIONAL GRANT AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY THE NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION

At its most recent meeting, the Board of Directors of The New York Bar Foundation awarded grants in the aggregate of $152,600 to help fund 19 law-related projects.  To date this year, 49 grants with a cumulative value of $440,150 have been awarded to nonprofit and other organizations across New York State. The grantees include:

• Albany –  Capital District Women’s Bar Association/The Legal Project, Inc.; CASA: Advocates for Children of New York State;  and the New York State Bar Association for its Special Committee to Ensure Quality of Mandated Representation
• Altamont – Community Caregivers, Inc.
• Brooklyn – Make the Road by Walking, Inc.
• Geneva – Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc.
• New York – Boys and Girls Republic; Center for Court Innovation Fund for the City of New York; Court Appointed Special Advocates, Inc. (CASA);  New York Legal Assistance Group; and Partnership for Children’s Rights
• Plattsburgh – Rural Law Center of New York, Inc.
• Rochester – Lifespan of Greater Rochester, Inc.; Monroe County Bar Center for Education; and Volunteer Legal Services Project of Monroe County, Inc.
• Staten Island – New York Center for Interpersonal Development
• Syracuse – The Family Law and Social Policy Center of Syracuse University
• Troy – Unity House of Troy, Inc.
• White Plains – My Sisters’ Place, Inc.

The grants have been awarded to support charitable and educational projects to meet the law-related needs of the public and the legal profession. They cover a variety of programs throughout the State of New York that will impact adults and children of all ages. The projects will help women and children who are victims of domestic violence, low-income elderly, disadvantaged children with disabilities, children in foster care, and low wage immigrant workers, to name a few.  Grants will also provide funding for programs involving attorneys representing indigent defendants in criminal or family court, youth courts, and a self-government and citizenship program for youths.

The grant award for Project Family Connect at the Court Appointed Special Advocates, Inc. (CASA), New York, will be funded from The Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner LLP Fund.  The fund provides financing for legal services for the benefit of children in foster care.  CASA’s Project Family Connect addresses the needs of children in foster care who have an incarcerated parent.

The Rural Law Center of New York’s grant, financed by The Hon. Richard J. Bartlett Fund, will provide direct legal assistance to low-income New York seniors facing consumer debt collection and predatory lending problems. Named in honor of former Foundation president, Richard J. Bartlett, the fund provides financial support to improve legal services to the indigent.

John R. Horan (Fox, Horan & Camerini LLP, New York), Foundation president, stated that, “Generous charitable contributions to The New York Bar Foundation from lawyers, law firms, corporations and others help to provide the funding for grant awards. We are pleased to support these law-related projects that will benefit many individuals and families throughout our communities in New York State.”

The Board of Directors reviews grant proposals twice a year; its next deadline for grant applications is October 15, 2007.  Application forms can be accessed through The Foundation’s Web site at www.tnybf.org.
For more information about The New York Bar Foundation, contact Rosanne Van Heertum, director of development, The New York Bar Foundation, One Elk Street, Albany NY 12207, 518/487-5650 or rvanh@tnybf.org.

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