The Oklahoma Bar Foundation (OBF) is excited to announce that $1.2 Million in grants will be awarded to 45 nonprofits for fiscal year 2024 program funding. This is the largest amount of grant funding ever given through the annual OBF IOLTA Program. The newly named Grantees anticipate helping over 66,000 Oklahomans next year. How the 45 Grantees achieve their individual missions is unique, but they all have one thing in common – a major need for client access to legal representation.
“Every year the OBF receives grant requests from nonprofits who provide crucial law related services throughout our state to those most in need,” says Jim Dowell, OBF Grants & Awards Chair. “Providing essential funding for these organizations is at the core of the OBF’s mission. Hearing the impact of the OBF’s IOLTA grants on the lives of Oklahomans is one of the most rewarding aspects of serving on the OBF Board.”
The Board-approved increase in grant funds means Grantees can better serve their clients with direct access to life-changing legal services. One of the Grant recipients, The Spero Project, whose mission is to serve the refugee community in Oklahoma City, received a grant supplement to hire a full-time staff immigration attorney.
“We are so excited to join this year’s IOLTA grant recipients,” says Brad Bandy, Founder of The Spero Project. “We are going to maximize this investment by offering immigration legal support for families living with pending immigration status. Our neighbors know the anxiety and desperation everyday of living in limbo and uncertainty about their future. ‘We eat and drink with it.… We sleep with it,’ one woman told me. But when they know that progress is being made on their cases for their families, and especially their children, there’s a sense of hope, and it changes lives. The impact of this work is generational! Thank you for thinking of us and growing with us! We love partnering with OBF to help our neighbors carry their burdens as we walk into a brighter future. And who knows, we might even get to be the answer to some prayers!“
OBF Grantees provide critical legal services across the state to abused and neglected children, domestic violence and human trafficking survivors, refugees, and immigrants living in Oklahoma. They also provide court ordered juvenile and family services programs, adult diversion programs, legal clinics, and teen law-related educational programs like Mock Trial.
2024 OBF Grant Recipients:
| Grantee | Program/Project | Service Area | Grant Amount | Lives Impacted |
| 1st Step Male Diversion Program | 1st Step Parenting Course | Tulsa, Creek & Wagoner Counties | $15,025.00 | 25 |
| CASA of Canadian County | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Canadian County | $15,000.00 | 130 |
| The CARE Center | Child Abuse Forensic Interviewing Program | Oklahoma County | $10,000.00 | 850 |
| CASA of Southern Oklahoma | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Carter, Love, Murray, Johnston & Marshall Counties | $15,000.00 | 90 |
| CASA for Kids | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Kay, Logan & Payne Counties | $15,000.00 | 164 |
| CASA of Northeast Oklahoma | Family Preservation Project | Craig, Mayes & Rogers Counties | $25,000.00 | 193 |
| CASA of Oklahoma County | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Oklahoma County | $15,000.00 | 653 |
| CASA of Pawnee/Osage County | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Osage & Pawnee Counties | $20,000.00 | 65 |
| CASA of Western Oklahoma | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Beckham, Custer, Dewey, Roger Mills & Washita Counties | $15,000.00 | 230 |
| Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma | Immigration Legal Services | Muskogee, Osage & Tulsa Counties | $25,000.00 | 800 |
| Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City | Immigration Legal Services | Canadian, Cleveland & Oklahoma Counties | $50,000.00 | 518 |
| Center for Children and Families | Divorce and Co-Parenting Services | Cleveland & Oklahoma Counties | $20,000.00 | 560 |
| Child Abuse Network | Forensic Interviews & Court Advocacy | Okmulgee, Tulsa & Wagoner Counties | $20,000.00 | 1,600 |
| Citizens for Juvenile Justice | Oklahoma County Juvenile Bureau Literacy Initiative | Oklahoma County | $4,399.50 | 100 |
| Citizens for Juvenile Justice | Connect to Redirect Program | Oklahoma County | $4,725.00 | 1,500 |
| Community Crisis Center | Court Advocates | Ottawa & Delaware Counties | $9,945.00 | 650 |
| Domestic Violence Intervention Services | DVIS Legal Program | Creek & Tulsa Counties | $20,000.00 | 3,871 |
| Garfield County Child Advocacy Council | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Garfield, Kingfisher & Woodward Counties | $20,000.00 | 200 |
| Historical Society of the U.S. District Court | Judicial Learning Center: Significant Cases Program Development | Statewide | $20,000.00 | 700 |
| Legal Aid Services Of Oklahoma | Access to Civil Legal Services | Statewide | $130,000.00 | 25,000 |
| Marie Detty Youth & Family Services | Domestic & Sexual Violence & Stalking Prevention Services | Caddo, Comanche & Cotton Counties | $20,000.00 | 798 |
| Mary Abbott Children’s House | Forensic Interview Program | Cleveland, Garvin & McClain Counties | $7,500.00 | 1,000 |
| Mental Health Association Oklahoma | Special Services Docket | Tulsa County | $25,000.00 | 240 |
| Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation | Legal Education and Engagement | Statewide | $25,000.00 | 1,000 |
| Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice | Mental Illness & Criminal Law Handbook | Statewide | $15,000.00 | 10,000 |
| Oklahoma CASA Association | Training for CASA Volunteers & Local Programs | Statewide | $12,000.00 | 3,100 |
| Oklahoma City University College of Law | American Indian Wills Clinic | Statewide | $30,000.00 | 100 |
| Oklahoma Guardian Ad Litem Institute | GAL Services for low-income children & families | Statewide | $50,000.00 | 100 |
| Oklahoma Bar Association | High School Mock Trial Program | Statewide | $50,000.00 | 800 |
| Oklahoma Lawyers for Families and Children | Family Advocacy Program | Oklahoma & Canadian Counties | $130,000.00 | 3,500 |
| Palomar: Oklahoma City’s Family Justice Center | Palomar Legal Network | Cleveland, Oklahoma & Logan Counties | $5,000.00 | 100 |
| The Parent Child Center of Tulsa | Tulsa Safe Babies Court Team | Tulsa County | $20,000.00 | 210 |
| Pittsburg County Child Abuse Response Effort | Victim’s Advocacy & Community Training | Pittsburgh County | $15,000.00 | 250 |
| ReMerge of Oklahoma County | ReMerge Diversion Program | Statewide | $10,000.00 | 85 |
| The Spero Project | Refugee Legal Support Services | Canadian, Cleveland & Oklahoma Counties | $100,000.00 | 350 |
| The Spring | Legal Services for Sex Trafficking & Domestic Violence Survivors | Statewide | $15,000.00 | 2,200 |
| Teen Court | Delinquency Prevention/Peer Court | Comanche County | $30,000.00 | 1,200 |
| Trinity Legal Clinic of Oklahoma | Community Justice Initiative | Canadian, Cleveland & Oklahoma Counties | $65,000.00 | 300 |
| Tulsa Lawyers for Children | Legal Representation for Abused Children | Tulsa County | $60,000.00 | 250 |
| The University of Tulsa | TU Law Immigration Programs | Statewide | $58,000.00 | 800 |
| Western Plains Youth & Family Services | Services for Juveniles in Detention | Ellis, Harper & Woodward Counties | $20,000.00 | 100 |
| YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City | Youth & Government Program | Oklahoma County | $8,000.00 | 800 |
| Youth and Family Resource Center | Court Advocacy for Abused Children | Lincoln & Pottawatomie Counties | $10,000.00 | 47 |
| Youth Services of Tulsa | Youth Court | Tulsa County | $10,000.00 | 400 |
| YWCA of Tulsa | Immigration Legal Services | Rogers, Tulsa & Wagoner Counties | $30,000.00 | 858 |
| $1,289,594.50 | 66,487 |