New Mexico Legal Aid receives $275,000 for pro bono initiative
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Kathryn Fanlund
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(202) 295-1520
WASHINGTON—The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is awarding $275,405 to New Mexico Legal Aid (NMLA). The LSC Pro Bono Innovation Fund (PBIF) grant will enable the nonprofit legal services organization to expand efforts to engage volunteers in assisting low-income New Mexicans with their civil legal problems.
NMLA will use the PBIF grant to expand its Estate Planning Project, moving to a volunteer-supported model that helps clients complete wills, powers of attorney and advance health care directives. Building on its existing volunteer network, NMLA will hire a dedicated estate-planning paralegal to coordinate outreach, client screening, volunteer recruitment and clinics statewide, particularly in underserved rural communities.
The project will establish standalone estate-planning clinics, add scheduled estate-planning appointments to legal fairs and adopt document-automation technology and standardized templates that allow volunteers to prepare and execute documents on-site. By creating a more efficient and scalable clinic model, the project will help more clients complete estate-planning documents that protect housing stability, family property and generational wealth.
With limited capacity and resources, legal services organizations nationwide depend upon volunteers to expand the reach of legal assistance in their local communities. Low-income Americans do not receive any or enough legal help with 92% of their civil legal problems.
Since the PBIF grant program began in 2014, LSC has awarded 200 grants totaling more than $55 million. Funding for the PBIF program is included in LSC’s congressional appropriation.
U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján congratulated NMLA on receiving a pro bono grant.
“New Mexico Legal Aid is a lifeline for people who cannot afford legal help. This grant will help expand their services and reach more New Mexicans, especially in underserved and rural communities,” said Sen. Luján. “I’m grateful to the Legal Services Corporation for investing in New Mexico and helping ensure more people have access to the legal support they need.”
More information about the Pro Bono Innovation Fund is available here.