Milwaukee Eviction Defense Project gets $340K grant

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Legal Action of Wisconsin recently received a grant to expand the work of its Eviction Defense Project in Milwaukee.

The Legal Services Corporation, an organization that distributes money to independent nonprofit legal-aid programs throughout the country in order to provide civil legal aid to clients with low incomes, announced last week that Legal Action was one of 15 legal-aid organizations that would be receiving Pro Bono Innovation Grants, which are offered for projects that expand pro bono legal services for low-income clients.

Legal Action will use the $340,000 grant to increase the Milwaukee Eviction Defense Project’s service hours.

The Eviction Defense Project is a pro bono program that trains private attorneys to represent tenants who are faced with the threat of eviction. Legal Action started the Milwaukee arm of the project in 2017, and its almost 100 volunteer attorneys and 25 students have so far helped more than 700 low-income clients. Follow @erikastrebel