2020 Annual Report
2020 ANNUAL REPORT
A Note from the President and Director
March 2, 2021
Dear Friend of the South Carolina Bar Foundation:
The South Carolina Bar Foundation Board and staff are pleased to share with you our Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2020. We are honored to fund nonprofit organizations around the state that improve the lives of the poor, the homeless, and those with nowhere else to turn by supporting the administration of justice, providing civil legal aid and providing law related education. The Annual Report details the sources of the South Carolina Bar Foundation’s funding, as well as illustrating how our resources are distributed.
We are fortunate to have dedicated donors and IOLTA income, but the legal needs of human trafficking victims, the homeless, veterans, domestic violence victims, and children far outweigh what we can provide. In fiscal year 2020, 81 cents of every dollar went to help those in need and 5.23% of South Carolina Bar members donated to the Foundation.
With 2021 being our 50th anniversary, we challenge all Bar members to donate at least $50 in honor of that milestone. We are your South Carolina Bar Foundation, and our goal is to increase the number of participating members to 100% by December 2021. Please make your donation and a difference today. You can donate online at https://scbf.networkforgood.com/.
We appreciate your generosity and continued support!
Jennifer Blumenthal, President
Megan Seiner, Executive Director
Your Donations at Work
We support Administration of Justice organizations that use innovative and cost-effective means to enhance legal services to the poor, help Civil Legal Aid organizations that provide direct civil legal aid to those who are underserved by legal services, and work with Law Related Education organizations that teach students to become responsible citizens under the law doing the following:
Grants Across South Carolina
3
UPSTATE
12
MIDLANDS
8
LOWCOUNTRY
2 STATEWIDE SERVICE PROVIDERS
“In a statewide survey, we learned that while 94% of police stated that community policing was important to them, only 29% felt they had access to resources to help people in need. We created our Compassionate Acts Program in 2017 in response to this challenge. Thanks to the incredible support from the SC Bar Foundation, we have been able to magnify the program's impact. Over 50,000 meals have been provided by police to people experiencing hunger, and 100% of participating officers agree that the program has increased their ability to connect with the community. We believe that this program has the potential to serve as a best practice model for restructuring interactions between police and community members in need statewide and beyond, and thanks to our partnership with SC Bar Foundation, we are confident that this vision can become a reality.”
KASSY ALIA RAY | Founder and CEO of Serve and Connect
Fiscal Year 2020 Expenses
$2,032,913
GRANT DOLLARS
26
GRANTEES
$382,345
OPERATING
COSTS
Fiscal Year 2020 Assets
$1,990,473 TOTAL INCOME
$7,630,000 INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
IN 2020
563
DONORS
(ONLY 5.23%
OF ACTIVE
BAR MEMBERS)
DONATED AN AVERAGE OF
$187
Fiscal Year 20 Grantees
CIVIL LEGAL AID
Center for Heirs' Property Preservation
Hopeful Horizons (formerly CODA)
Sistercare
South Carolina Victim Assistance Network, Inc.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
Greenville Bar Foundation
Catholic Charities Office of Immigration Services
Midlands Housing Alliance, aka Transitions
Midlands Mediation Center
National Judicial College
Richland County CASA
SC Access to Justice Commission
SC Bar Ask-A-Lawyer
SC Center For Fathers & Families
Serve and Connect
Turning Leaf Project
SC Women Lawyers Assoc
Upstate Mediation Center
LAW RELATED EDUCATION
SC Bar Law Related Education
SC YMCA Youth In Government
Spartanburg County Criminal Justice Youth Institute
USC Veteran's Legal Clinic
81¢ per dollar
is distributed
statewide
Bank of America Settlement Grants
Special grant program established as a result of a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Bank of America. These funds must be used by nonprofit organizations in SC to provide legal services relating to foreclosure prevention and/or community redevelopment benefiting SC residents.
Bank of America Settlement Grantees
Antioch Educational Center
Center for Heirs’ Property Preservation
Charleston Legal Access
Charleston Trident Urban League
Greenville County Human Relations Commission
Lowcountry Legal Volunteers
One-Eighty Place Homeless Justice Project
SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center
SC Bar Pro Bono Program
SCCADVASA
South Carolina Environmental Law Project
SC Legal Services
University of South Carolina School of Law Veterans Legal Clinic
“We have seen a significant increase in people who are dealing with domestic violence. We served approximately 50% more people in our shelter program in 2020 than in prior years. That’s more folks than we have served in a single year.
Funding from the SC Bar Foundation helps make it possible for us to serve many more individuals and families who have an urgent need for shelter, forensic interviews, therapy, advocacy and so much more.”
KRISTIN DUBROWSKI | Chief Executive Officer of Hopeful Horizons
None of this would be possible without our donors. Thank you to those who support us financially! Click the link below to support these good works:
FISCAL YEAR 2020 South Carolina Bar Foundation Annual Report