Archives: Grants (page 21)

The Korean Legal Clinic (KLC) will provide intake, referral, and summary advice services to the Korean-Canadian community in the Greater Toronto Area. Throughout the project, KLC will build a roster of Korean-speaking lawyers available to offer pro bono services. KLC will also host public legal education workshops on a range of legal issues. This initiative will enhance the Korean-Canadian community’s access to culturally and linguistically appropriate legal resources.

The Centre for Refugee Children will develop and implement a Child Representative Program to recruit, train, and support volunteer child/designated representatives in Ontario who are assigned to unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) navigating legal immigration proceedings. UASCs will have enhanced access to qualified representatives who will support and advocate for the child's best interests at all stages of the refugee claim/immigration process.

The Community Justice Collective (CJC) will disseminate legal resources and deliver workshops tailored to the legal issues facing encampment residents in the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario. Topics that will be covered include basic rights when interacting with the police, the Charter rights of people living in public spaces, and the powers of private security and municipal security officers. Partners include The 519 and the Encampment Support Network. This initiative will increase access to reliable legal information and resources for unhoused people in the province.

The Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASCW) will pilot a legal advocate program to provide system navigation support to survivors of sexual violence in the Waterloo region. Grant funds will be used to hire a legal advocate who will provide support through a case-management model, which will include advocating on behalf of clients, assisting with completing documents, accompanying clients to court, and facilitating referrals to lawyers. This initiative will increase survivors’ access to timely system navigation support.

YWCA Sudbury will develop and disseminate an online training program for justice sector professionals across Ontario to increase their knowledge and sensitivity regarding cases of sexual assault. Partners include Voices for Women Sudbury Sexual Assault Centre, and She Matters. Through this initiative, YWCA Sudbury aims to decrease the secondary trauma experienced by survivors of sexual violence when navigating the justice system.

The Committee to Support Indigenous Youth Aging Out of Care (the Committee) will design and disseminate a legal information package for Indigenous youth across Ontario who are aging out of the foster care system. The Committee is comprised of lawyers from Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario who have relevant professional and lived experience. Partners include the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. This initiative will provide Indigenous youth with reliable and culturally relevant legal information to support their transition to adulthood.

Maggie’s Toronto Sex Worker's Action Project will consult sex workers in Toronto to identify their pressing legal concerns related to their encounters with law enforcement and discrimination in other areas of their work and lives, such as housing, employment, immigration, family law and child custody matters. In response to these consultations and in collaboration with sex worker advisory groups, the project will produce comprehensive, plain language public legal education resources.

R.I.S.E. Arts and Community Services (R.I.S.E.) will engage artists in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) who will work alongside volunteer lawyers to produce a series of short informational videos accompanied by creative works such as images, songs, music, poetry, posters, and spoken word pieces. R.I.S.E. will also host public legal education (PLE) workshops for Black youth in the GTA, led by an artist and a legal educator. Partners include the Black Legal Action Centre and the Ontario Justice Education Network. This initiative will fill a gap in PLE resources that are engaging and culturally relevant to Black youth.

WomenatthecentrE will create an up-to-date, bilingual, and interactive website that provides information on the court process to youth in Ontario who are preparing to testify in criminal court, including those who are survivors of sexual assault. This new site will enable WomanatthecentrE feature to update and expand the information on the CourtPrep.ca website that was launched in 2004. This initiative will increase access to reliable information for youth navigating the court system.

Black Law Students’ Association of Canada (BLSA Canada) will host its annual conference benefiting Black law students from across the country. BLSA Canada aims to foster connections between Black law students and legal professionals to promote professional development, legal education, and cultural awareness within the legal sector.