Funding awards in matching grants to three Ohio legal aid organizations totaling $417,400 are the latest dollars invested by the Ohio Access to Justice Foundation in its Neighborhood Stabilization Grant Program, an innovative program that funds Ohio’s legal aids to lead community economic development (CED) projects throughout the state.
“This funding allows our grantees to continue CED work that is transformative for low-income Ohio communities,” said Foundation Executive Director Angie Lloyd. “As other funders step up and see the value in supporting legal aid’s CED work, the Foundation is pleased to offer matching funds to continue these efforts.”
The matching funds are on top of the $12.8 million the Foundation has already disbursed over six years to Ohio’s legal aids to support community-led projects that stabilize homeowners, support minority-owned businesses, and create jobs. Through the Foundation’s support, grantees across the state have stabilized communities through upstream approaches to systemic problems, particularly in neighborhoods of color.
For example, in West Dayton, community groups partnered with Foundation grantee Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) to improve access to fresh food and to create jobs. When neighbors in the predominately Black community identified the need for a local grocery store, ABLE provided the legal support to open Gem City Market, a co-op that offers affordable, high-quality food and is worker and community owned. Since Gem City Market’s launch, ABLE has continued to work with the same community organizing groups to support up-start efforts through Co-op Dayton.
In Cleveland, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland provides legal services to Cleveland Owns, an incubator for collective ownership working in the Hough and Detroit Shoreway neighborhoods. Members of the Hough Block Club rely on legal aid’s counsel and representation in developing a local solar energy project, which will generate clean energy and wealth for residents in the neighborhood.
And in Columbus, during the pandemic, community members approached The Legal Aid Society of Columbus to help launch an employee-owned coffee company. The group wanted to build a company to redress systemic racism and class disadvantages through the equitable treatment of employees. Legal aid helped incorporate Parable Coffee, creating bylaws that provide employee ownership and fair wages without relying on tipping.
These projects are just three examples of dozens of CED initiatives creating lasting and long-term change in Ohio. The Neighborhood Stabilization Grant Program has been so successful that the Foundation Board, at their June 2023 meeting, decided to invest an additional $1.55 million on top of the initial $12.8 million toward the program.
“The Neighborhood Stabilization Grant Program perfectly illustrates how the intersections of community economic development, racial justice, and civil legal services are critical to moving communities forward,” Lloyd said. “Through the Foundation’s six-year track record of success, we’ve demonstrated that incorporating a civil legal services nonprofit into a community partnership can lead to greater, transformative success.”
Ohio’s legal aids provide essential legal services to help Ohioans resolve their legal issues so they can live safer, healthier, and more financially stable lives. Learn more about legal aid in Ohio.