The South Carolina Bar Foundation has awarded grants to 50 law-related nonprofit organizations and programs totaling over $7.1 million for Fiscal Year 2027. This is the largest allocation in the organization’s 55-year history.
The grants will go to nonprofit organizations across the state to benefit dozens of different programs that support those living in poverty, those facing and experiencing homelessness, domestic violence survivors, those impacted by our criminal justice system, those facing the legal system alone, and youth interested in careers in the law, among others.
As part of a special initiative, almost $1.2 million of the total allocation comes from the Impact Fund, designed to both spur innovative and impactful programs and projects as well as offset the current and anticipated federal funding losses.
Four specific projects were selected in this second round of impact funding:
- The Rainy Day Fund and the University of South Carolina Psychology Department for a three-year study on expansion of Driver’s License Reinstatement Clinics and Homeless Courts across South Carolina.
- The South Carolina Coalition against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA) and the South Carolina Access to Justice Commission’s Convening Group for a two-year project designed to document, evaluate, and strengthen existing models of Domestic Violence-Legal Aid integration.
- The South Carolina Victim Assistance Network (SCVAN) for its Divorce Clinic Program for survivors of domestic violence.
- The University of South Carolina Rice School of Law Pro Bono Program for its Pro Bono Legal Clinic case management system.
Our Mission
The mission of the South Carolina Bar Foundation is to promote justice by funding legal access and education, while its vision is for every person in South Carolina to recognize and secure their legal rights.
The nonprofits that received grants fall into one of three categories:
- Civil Legal Services to Indigents in South Carolina
- Law-Related Education to the Public in South Carolina
- Administration of Justice in South Carolina
Grant Recipients
• 15th Circuit Treatment Court
• Antioch Educational Center
• Center for Heirs’ Property
• Charleston Legal Access
• Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services
• Charleston School of Law Public Interest Internships
• Coastal Conservation League
• Disability Rights South Carolina
• Donald Beatty Center for Justice & Society of USC Upstate
• Family Justice Center of Georgetown & Horry Counties
• Greenville County Human Relations
• HALOS
• Hispanic Alliance
• Hopeful Horizons
• Immigration Legal Services of Catholic Charities of South Carolina
• Justice 360
• Laurens County SAFE Home
• Lowcountry Legal Volunteers
• Lowcountry Mediation Center
• Lutheran Services Carolinas
• Midlands Mediation Center
• Myrtle Beach STEM Academy
• NC Center on Actual Innocence (for their SC cases)
• One80 Place Legal Services
• Pathways to Healing
• Project R.E.S.T.
• Rainy Day Fund
• SC Appleseed
• SC Bar Law-Related Education
• SC Bar Law Talks & Law School for Non-Lawyers
• SC Bar Pro Bono Program
• SCCADVASA
• SC Victim Assistance Network
• Serve & Connect
• Sistercare
• South Carolina Access to Justice Commission
• South Carolina Environmental Law Project
• South Carolina Legal Services
• South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families
• South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society
• South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
• The National Judicial College
• Time Served
• Transitions Homeless Center
• Turn90
• Upstate Mediation Center
• Upstate Medical-Legal Partnership
• USC Rice School of Law Public Interest Fellows
• USC Salkehatchie
“Guided by a deep commitment to our grantees and the legal community across South Carolina, the Board of Directors is honored to distribute this substantial grant funding during the Foundation’s 55th anniversary year. These investments underscore the essential role that civil legal aid, law-related education, and administration of justice programs play in strengthening communities and ensuring equal access to justice.”
MARTI BLUESTEIN
President of the SC Bar Foundation Board
One grantee stated that the funding provided by the Foundation “helps ensure that (clients) gain access to legal remedies and support that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.”
Another noted that the Foundation is “fostering a culture of collaboration among grantees,” which creates “meaningful opportunities to work more closely with peers across the state, leading to stronger partnerships, more efficient use of resources, and deeper impact for the communities we collectively serve.”
