The South Carolina Bar Foundation has awarded grants totaling over $5.2 million for Fiscal Year 2026. The grants will go to more than 50 nonprofit organizations across the state for programs that support South Carolinians who are living in poverty, facing and experiencing homelessness, and navigating the legal system alone, as well as those impacted by our criminal justice system, domestic violence survivors, and youth interested in careers in the law, among others.
As part of a special initiative, almost $1.5 million of the total allocation comes from the newly created Impact Fund.
“In its inaugural year, the Impact Fund allowed for the single largest grant allocation in the Foundation’s more than 50-year history,” said Tom Gressette, President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, “This year,” Gressette said, “the Impact Fund provided grants to offset the current and anticipated federal funding losses for many grantee organizations while also empowering innovative and impactful programs and projects.”
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A return-on-value assessment of the Upstate Medical Legal Partnership, which integrates legal services into healthcare settings, leading to better health outcomes, reduced healthcare utilization, and improved quality of life.
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A feasibility study to consider expanding the sliding-fee-scale services offered by Charleston Legal Access to other parts of the state. Currently, Charleston Legal Access is the only legal provider for those who do not qualify for legal aid but who also cannot afford a private attorney.
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The South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society’s museum-quality exhibit for a semi-permanent display on the history of the South Carolina Judicial System in the lobby of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Grant Recipients
- 15th Circuit Treatment Court
- ABA Free Legal Answers
- Angels Charge Ministry
- Antioch Educational Center
- Bill of Rights Institute
- Catholic Charities Office of Immigration Services
- Center for Heirs’ Property
- Charleston Legal Access
- Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services
- Charleston School of Law Public Interest Internships
- Coastal Conservation League
- Disability Rights SC
- Donald Beatty Center for Justice and Society of USC Upstate
- Equal Justice Works
- Family Justice Center of Georgetown and Horry Counties
- Greenville County Human Relations Commission
- Hopeful Horizons
- Justice 360
- Lowcountry Legal Volunteers
- Lutheran Services Carolinas
- Mediation & Meeting Center of Charleston
- Midlands Mediation Center
- National Judicial College
- NC Center on Actual Innocence
- One80 Place
- Pathways to Healing
- Project R.E.S.T.
- Rainy Day Fund
- Root and Rebound South Carolina Reentry Services
- SC Appleseed
- SC Bar Law Related Education
- SC Bar Public Services Division: Law Talks & Law School for Non-Lawyers
- SC Bar Pro Bono Program
- SC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
- SC Environmental Law Project
- SC YMCA Youth in Government
- Serve & Connect
- Sistercare
- South Carolina Access to Justice Commission
- South Carolina Legal Services
- South Carolina Center for Fathers & Families
- South Carolina Collective
- South Carolina Victim Assistance Network
- South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
- The South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society
- Time Served
- Transitions
- Turn90
- University of South Carolina Rice School of Law Public Interest Fellows
- Upstate Mediation Center
- Upstate Medical Legal Partnership
“Our grantees are working harder and smarter than ever before to provide critical services for vulnerable South Carolinians. Access to our justice system is a necessity; these grantees ensure better legal access and education for all.”
OLIVIA S. JONES | SC Bar Foundation Executive Director
“By helping to fund legal access and education programs throughout the state, the Board helps ensure that citizens’ rights are protected and that students are learning more about the legal process so they may be in a position to give back one day.”
CHERIE BARTON | SC Bar Foundation Director
