Three Charlottesville-area organizations collectively received $45,000 in grants from the Virginia Law Foundation for their respective efforts to support Afghan refugees, low-income households and soon-to-be naturalized U.S. citizens in the region.
With offices in Charlottesville and Richmond, the Virginia Law Foundation has contributed a total of $716,500 this year to 33 nonprofit groups across the commonwealth, including a program of the Charlottesville-based Legal Aid Justice Center, the University of Virginia’s Madison House and Montpelier Foundation that operates Founding Father James Madison’s estate in Orange County.
The foundation’s annual grant program was established in 1984 and has doled out more than $30 million to various initiatives in the decades since, financing efforts in alignment with its mission to “uphold the rule of law, expand access to justice” and promote legal education.
“Thousands of Virginians’ lives are positively impacted each year by the Virginia Law Foundation,” said the foundation’s CEO Alison Martin in a July 16 statement announcing the grants. “Underwriting meaningful projects such as pro bono services, legal aid, and transformational civics education is the pinnacle of the Virginia Law Foundation’s philanthropy, and we are thrilled to announce our exceptional 2025 recipients and support their work.”
The Legal Aid Justice Center provides pro bono legal services to underserved communities suffering from systemic discrimination under the philosophy that "poverty is a racial justice issue."
The center’s Charlottesville office is based on Preston Avenue and runs the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association Volunteer Lawyer Program. That initiative directly received $25,000 from the Virginia Law Foundation to “support this program’s expansion to provide time-sensitive, critical legal support to Afghan evacuees residing in Virginia,” according to the foundation.
Volunteering their time and expertise, local attorneys work with state and national agencies to ensure their clients properly file and receive asylum and special immigration visas.
The Madison House is a program that connects UVa students interested in getting involved in their community with various businesses, government agencies and other local partners in need of help. The organization received $10,000 from the foundation for its Cville Tax Aid Coalition.
Run by college students and community members, all of whom are certified by the Internal Revenue Service, the coalition offers tax preparation services free of charge to low-income residents across Central Virginia.
“This program helps to ensure that underserved Central Virginians can access high-quality, accurate, and empathetic tax preparation services,” according to the Virginia Law Foundation.
The Montpelier Foundation, which owns and operates the property that was once home to the Father of the Constitution and fourth U.S. president, was awarded $1,000, which will help finance its first naturalization ceremony sometime next year. The nearby Monticello estate of Madison’s contemporary and close friend Thomas Jefferson has long held a naturalization ceremony on the Fourth of July. This year’s celebration featured 74 new citizens from more than 40 different countries who were welcomed by award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.
In addition to funding the actual naturalization ceremony at Montpelier, the grant money will assist the foundation with providing educational programs on the Constitution for the incoming citizens.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com