Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, a legal aid provider in central and southern Illinois, is proud to announce it has been awarded $230,044 in funding from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority’s (ICJIA) Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) Program, which was created as a key equity element of the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), signed by Governor Pritzker in 2019.
“We are thrilled to receive this groundbreaking funding to work with our community partners to address our communities’ legal needs,” said Land of Lincoln Executive Director Clarissa Gaff. “We know a lot of community members are mistrustful of the legal system because of experiences they have had with the criminal justice system. As a result, they may avoid legal assistance altogether, even when an attorney could have a helped with a significant problem.”
She continued, “We hope that by working with trusted community organizations and actively working with residents to resolve their civil legal problems, we can positively impact our communities and at the same time, restore confidence in the legal system.”
Land of Lincoln will be focusing on communities in Carbondale, Cairo, Champaign-Urbana, Danville, Decatur, and Springfield that have been harmed by unemployment, excessive incarceration, and economic disinvestment. Land of Lincoln is excited to be partnering with:
- Carbondale: NAACP of Carbondale
- Cairo: NAACP of Pulaski & Alexander Counties
- Champaign-Urbana: HV Neighborhood Transformation (HVNT)
- Danville: Danville Restoring Our Community (DROC)
- Decatur: Decatur Township, Old King’s Orchard Community Center
- Springfield: Springfield Urban League
Offices and staff in each region will work closely with these community partners to provide community education, outreach, and collaborative services to address critical civil legal needs in areas of housing, debt, criminal records expungement and sealing, public benefits, and other legal needs identified by community partners.