DRC-NH Receives Two Grants from the New Hampshire Bar Foundation
Download PDF of Press Release Here
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 16, 2024
CONTACT: Stephanie Patrick, Executive Director
Disability Rights Center – New Hampshire
(603) 228-0432 or stephaniep@drcnh.org
New Hampshire Bar Foundation Grants Enable Disability Rights Center-NH to Fight Discrimination and Bring Awareness to Life in State’s Institutions
Disability Rights Center – New Hampshire (DRC-NH) is pleased to announce the receipt of two grants from the New Hampshire Bar Foundation’s IOLTA grants program.
The first grant of $118,000 will support DRC-NH’s on-going legal advocacy for people with disabilities across New Hampshire, including people with developmental disabilities, mental illness, and physical disabilities.
The second grant of $25,000 is supporting the development of an online, statewide institutional rights and facility monitoring database that will be a source of information for disabled individuals and their caregivers, as well as service providers, policy makers, and the legal community. There are over 300 hospitals, nursing homes, group homes, treatment centers, emergency shelters, detention facilities, residential schools, and assisted living facilities where NH’s adults and children with disabilities live. Oftentimes little is known about these facilities by the broader public or even by those whose loved ones reside in them.
“The IOLTA grant funding enables us to help many more people with disabilities, including some of the most vulnerable to mistreatment, abuse and neglect especially in stressful, underfunded, poorly monitored environments. With this funding, we can provide legal representation to more people with disabilities and advocate for systems change,” said Stephanie Patrick, Executive Director of DRC-NH. “We are grateful to the attorneys, banks, and the NH Bar Foundation for these grants. Without funding through the IOLTA program, this work would not be possible.”
Attorneys and the banking community partner to fund the IOLTA grant program through interest on certain lawyer trust accounts, paid to the New Hampshire Bar Foundation to fund a statewide grant program to promote justice. IOLTA grants fund nonprofit organizations, like DRC-NH, that provide free or reduced-fee civil legal services. More information about the New Hampshire Bar Foundation and the IOLTA grant program can be found at www.nhbar.org/nh-bar-foundation.
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DRC-NH protects, advances, and strengthens the legal rights and advocacy interests of all people with disabilities. More information about DRC-NH can be found at http://www.drcnh.org.
