WisTAF announces $7.4 million in COVID-related grant awards

The Wisconsin Trust Account Foundation determined grant awards in the state's COVID-related legal assistance program.

WisTAF's Board of Directors decided at its October 14 meeting to make the following grants available. The State of Wisconsin created the grant program earlier in 2022 and named WisTAF the fund administrator. The organizations named below submitted applications for how they would use the funds to serve COVID-related legal needs of people who are economically disadvantaged.

Grant Recipient	Area Served	Grant Amount
ABC (Advocacy and Benefits Counseling) for Health, Inc. is a nonprofit public interest law firm serving families throughout Wisconsin on legal issues related to health care access and financing.	Statewide	$708,685
Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) is a social service agency on Madison’s South side. The CMC runs the Immigration Legal Services Program to help low/no income immigrants and refugees who are unable to afford the services of a private attorney.	Columbia, Dane, Grant, Green, Green Lake, Iowa, Jefferson, LaFayette, Marquette, Rock, and Sauk counties	$44,080
Center Against Sexual & Domestic Abuse (CASDA) provides free services to individuals hurt by domestic, sexual, or child abuse, as they advocate for a community effort to end violence.	Ashland, Bayfield, and Douglas counties	$100,115
Centro Legal is a nonprofit corporation whose primary purpose is to provide legal representation to the poor and those with limited resources for a reasonable and accessible price in the Milwaukee area.	Milwaukee and Waukesha counties	$153,273
Disability Rights Wisconsin defends the rights of people residing in Wisconsin’s public and private institutions, and represents individuals under the Americans with Disabilities Act through information and referral, direct legal representation, and in limited situations, class action litigation.	Statewide	$367,144
The Economic Justice Institute is home to the University of Wisconsin Law School’s six civil, anti-poverty clinical programs.	Southern Wisconsin, some services statewide	$341,775
Indianhead Community Action Agency is a private, nonprofit agency that assists individuals in achieving self-sufficiency by providing the resources, education, and services necessary to develop healthy families, sustainable communities, and strong local businesses.	Barron, Burnett, Clark, Polk, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, and Washburn counties	$237,500
Judicare Legal Aid provides civil legal assistance, information and education to low-income people, Native Americans, and others who might otherwise be denied access to justice.	33 counties in northern Wisconsin, and Native American clients statewide	$1,048,674
Kids Matter Inc. provides legal services and other advocacy for children in foster and kinship care in the greater Milwaukee area.	Milwaukee and Waukesha counties, limited services statewide	$587,908
Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc. serves low-income clients in the areas of family law and domestic violence, housing, public benefits, special education, and economic development.	39 counties in southern Wisconsin	$2,796,463
Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee provides family law, public benefits, landlord-tenant, consumer, municipal ordinance defense and civil rights law to low-income people in Milwaukee.	Milwaukee County	$803,983
The Milwaukee Bar Association Foundation carries out charitable aims of the Milwaukee Bar Association and is a partner in the Milwaukee Justice Center, a collaborative project that taps volunteers to address unmet legal needs.	Milwaukee County	$136,800
Vivent Health is committed to being a respectful, caring partner serving everyone affected by HIV through comprehensive, integrated programs including legal services.	Statewide	$95,000