Investing to help in-need Ohioans solve their legal problems is smart, results-oriented philanthropy.
Too often, there is a legal barrier which prevents in-need Ohioans from stabilizing their lives: a child unable to access the necessary supports he needs to succeed in school; a senior facing foreclosure after endless medical bills; a veteran unable to obtain the benefits she rightly earned.
Supporting Ohio’s legal aids removes barriers to education, housing, jobs, and health by giving in-need Ohioans a legal voice in the justice system. Ultimately, legal aid is a powerful tool that improves the social, health, and economic conditions of our communities and can be a part of any funder’s anti-poverty strategy.
Ohio Legal Aid adds impact and value to the causes and programs funders support:
- Education
- Healthy families and communities
- Economic stability and self-sufficiency
- Safe and stable housing
- Removing barriers to employment
To learn more about philanthropic funding for legal aid, visit: Natural Allies: Philanthropy and Civil Legal Aid, a joint report by the Public Welfare Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.
Recommendations
What can funders do to ensure in-need Ohioans have access to justice?*
- Identify grantmaking programs that could achieve improved outcomes and reach their goals more efficiently by adding Ohio Legal Aid as a partner.
- Invite current grantees to investigate collaborations with Ohio Legal Aid.
- Partner with the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation to identify Ohio Legal Aid programs that match your funding priorities.
- Provide general support for Ohio’s legal aids that serve your own communities.
If you are a funder and are interested in making Ohio Legal Aid a part of your anti-poverty strategy, please contact Marissa Weldon, at mweldon@olaf.org.
*Recommendations pulled from Natural Allies: Philanthropy and Civil Legal Aid.
