Race Equity Grant Recipients
The Race Equity Grant program had two funding cycles in 2020 and 2021. See all grant recipients below:
2022
Access to Justice Board (Washington State Bar Association)
Promoting relationships between legal aid and community partners through the Community Advisory Panel, grounding their work with the lived expertise of those who have been harmed by racism within the legal system.
Global Rights Advocacy
Strengthening international human rights advocacy and legal outreach on behalf of asylum-seekers and other detainees at the Northwest Detention Center.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) – Vancouver
Expanding outreach and capacity to meet the demand for meaningful civil legal aid for the Black Community through advocacy, education, and legal resource referrals to protect the most vulnerable peoples’ civil legal rights.
Nuestra Casa
Offering civic engagement training and providing DOJ-accredited legal services to Latino families in the Yakima Valley through the community-based citizenship program, CARE (Citizenship Access, Resources and Education).
Our Sisters’ House
Providing culturally specific legal advocacy to African American and Black survivors of domestic violence in Pierce County.
Seattle Clemency Project
Extending long-term, individualized support, including civil legal aid, employment assistance, counseling, and education to men and women reentering the community after serving excessively long prison sentences.
Tenants Union of Washington State
Empowering tenants through the Tenant Education Program that includes statewide Tenants Rights Hotline, individualized tenant counseling, a comprehensive website, tenant education workshops, and housing justice services in multiple languages.
Washington Low Income Housing Alliance
Building power for people who have experienced housing injustice to change state policy through storytelling, organizing, and civic action through the Resident Action Project.
Fall 2021
Communities Rise
Expanding the Community Connectors Program, a relationship-based outreach program in South King, Spokane, Yakima, and Pierce counties that compensates trusted community leaders to share culturally fluent information about COVID-related legal resources.
Disability Rights Washington
Implementing strategies to shift DRW’s systemic civil justice advocacy to address inequities experienced by disabled BIPOC, especially at risk of criminalization, incarceration, or institutionalization.
Global Rights Advocacy
Expanding legal outreach and international human rights advocacy on behalf of asylum-seekers and other detainees at Northwest Processing Center.
Gonzaga University’s Removal Defense Project
Providing free representation for vulnerable immigrants in Eastern Washington who must travel to the Seattle immigration court for removal hearings and training the next generation of nonracist immigration lawyers.
Korean Women’s Association
Assisting low-income and immigrant survivors of domestic violence in Tacoma with legal advice and representation.
Pacific County Immigrant Support partnering with Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center
Providing legal education and representation for Pacific County immigrants to secure legal status as residents.
Tacomaprobono Community Lawyers
Providing free legal services to BIPOC and low-income clients seeking to relieve the burden of legal financial obligations (LFOs), with the goal of reducing barriers to housing and relicensing.
Tulalip Foundation
Providing client-centered direct legal representation to Tulalip tribal member foster youth that addresses, supports, and protects the youth’s individual needs and goals.
Unemployment Law Project
Creating a Carl Maxey Race Equity Fellowship in Spokane to coordinate legal aid with BIPOC community organizations including a BIPOC Community Civil Legal Aid Summit.
Spring 2021
La Casa Hogar
Increasing access to naturalization services among rural, immigrant, Latinx lawful permanent residents of the Yakima Valley, by training and equipping community fellows for Department of Justice accreditation.
Living with Conviction
Empowering formerly incarcerated people of color and with low incomes to know and claim their rights to relief from the onerous court-imposed debt of legal financial obligations.
Seattle Clemency Project
Providing long-term, individualized support to men and women reentering the community after serving excessively long prison sentences, including: civil legal aid, employment assistance, counseling, training, education, and basic needs.
TeamChild
Building power among incarcerated youth (up to age 25) by working directly with them to plan, develop, and begin constructing a law library that meets their needs to understand the law and change their circumstances.
The Way to Justice
Expanding the availability of civil legal aid services for the BIPOC community in Spokane County while continuing to call the broader legal and justice system to examine and dismantle its racism.
Wenatchee for Immigrant Justice
Supporting immigrants in Wenatchee and the surrounding area needing financial assistance with the costs of applying for DACA, US citizenship and replacement of permanent residency cards.
Fall 2020
Disability Rights Washington
Working to shift power so Black, Indigenous, and people of color with disabilities can provide real input to King County and the State about healthcare needs and revising crisis standards of care.
Freedom Project
Increasing community-centered legal support by and for Black, Indigenous, and people of color impacted by the legal system through organizing, mentoring, and leadership development.
Seattle Clemency Project
Providing people recently released from prison through the state clemency process with legal services and the other assistance they need to successfully reintegrate into society.
South King County Discipline Coalition
Ending disproportionate discipline of students of color and interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline through anti-racist organizing, leadership development, and advocacy that centers directly impacted parents and youth.
West African Community Council
Assisting members of the refugee and immigrant community with limited English proficiency in gaining legal status and permission to work in the United States.
Yakima County Volunteer Attorney Services
Expanding outreach about pro bono legal services to members of the Spanish-speaking community in Yakima County, where Latinx people are half of the population.
Spring 2020
Colectiva Legal del Pueblo
Building community power for migrant justice through pro bono and low bono legal services, advocacy, and education to combat the immigration detention and deportation systems.
Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Legal Aid
Increasing access to justice for underserved communities in Southwest Washington, through an Equity & Justice Community Coordinator position to conduct community trainings and outreach.
Dispute Resolution Center of Yakima & Kittitas
Expanding services for Spanish-speaking families working through divorce or parenting plans by training bilingual mediators in Yakima County, where Latinx people are half of the population.
Fair Work Center
Establishing a peer training promotores program to prepare farmworkers to facilitate health and safety and know-your-rights trainings for their coworkers throughout the Yakima Valley.
Legal Counsel for Youth and Children
Conducting focus groups to understand how the civil legal aid system can improve accessibility and cultural competency to better serve youth and young adults of color in King County.
Living with Conviction
Empowering formerly incarcerated individuals to end onerous legal financial obligations (LFOs), which disproportionately impact communities of color and perpetuate cycles of poverty.
Spring 2019 (inaugural)
Center for Justice
Addressing racial inequality in Spokane through policy advocacy, community legal clinics, and post-conviction and re-entry services.
Cowlitz Wahkiakum Legal Aid
Advancing race equity in Southwest Washington with community trainings, outreach, and organizational capacity building.
Disability Rights Washington
Integrating movement lawyering into a statewide action plan to better serve people with disabilities in communities of color.
Dispute Resolution Center of Yakima & Kittitas
Opening new inroads at the courts for Spanish-speaking families previously excluded from linguistic and cultural access.
Entre Hermanos & QLaw Foundation
Expanding statewide services to Latinx LGBTQ immigrants through direct representation of asylum seekers, legal clinics, and trainings for volunteer attorneys.
Seattle Clemency Project
Advocating for clemency for refugees around the state who are at risk of being deported and separated from family due to prior convictions for which they have already served time.
Tenants Union of Washington State
Building the power of low income renters of color to advocate for just cause eviction, rent control, and housing justice.
Washington Parole Coalition
Organizing community members impacted by mass incarceration, survivors of violence, and civil legal aid providers to bring comprehensive parole reform to Washington.
West African Community Council
Achieving legal status and permission to work for Limited English Proficient members of Seattle’s growing West African community.
What’s Next Washington & Freedom Project
Removing systemic barriers to re-entry by building skills, support, and resources for people directly impacted by the criminal justice system.