Archives: Grants (page 41)

The Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association (CMLA) will hire an organizational development coordinator to spearhead short and long-term organizational planning initiatives to further develop the Muslim Legal Support Centre (MLSC). The MLSC was piloted with the support of Law Foundation funding and connects Muslim communities in the Greater Toronto Area to culturally and linguistically responsive legal information and support. This grant will enable CMLA to build on the momentum of the MLSC pilot and connect with more Muslim communities across Ontario.

Community Living Ontario will create and distribute a guide for people with disabilities and their families throughout Ontario that provides plain language information and templates for the hiring and payment of private support workers. The guide will ensure that families have access to the necessary information in order to adhere to employment laws and avoid potentially damaging consequences that improper employment arrangements can entail.

For Youth Initiative (FYI) will hire a legal consultant who will complete an organizational needs assessment, identify training opportunities for staff, and develop an intake and referral process for youth in the Greater Toronto Area seeking legal information and support. This grant will enhance FYI’s ability to provide system navigation support to marginalized, racialized, and newcomer youth who are in conflict with the law.

Place du Partage will provide system navigation support, deliver public legal education sessions, and engage in staff training. This grant will benefit Place du Partage staff as well as Francophone refugees and newcomers in Windsor. This grant will increase community members’ access to French language legal resources.

The Somali Canadian Association of Etobicoke will provide intake and referrals as well as deliver public legal education sessions in the Greater Toronto Area. This grant will benefit Somali community members in need of legal information and support. This grant will enhance access to culturally and linguistically responsive for community members facing a range of legal issues.

Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) will benefit Indigenous community members across Ontario who are experiencing legal issues. ALS aims to improve its capacity to develop and deliver programs and services that are responsive to the needs of the Indigenous community.

The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic’s Criminalization of Women Pro-Bono Program seeks to increase access to justice for women in the Greater Toronto Area who have experienced violence and have been charged with and/or convicted of criminal offences. Through the program, the Clinic provides women with summary legal advice and brief services for their criminal law matters. Program participants with more complex criminal law needs can access a community of pro bono criminal defense lawyers for legal advice. The program is for survivors of violence, particularly those facing multiple forms of discrimination, who come from underserved communities, and who have complex socio-economic and legal needs.

Canadian Civil Liberties Education Trust will provide workshops, seminars, and in-class sessions in schools, educational institutions, and faculties of education, educating students and teachers about their civil rights and freedoms. It prepares the next generation of Canadians for civic engagement by introducing teens to the exploration of civil liberties, critical thought, and the development of democratic habits.

Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) will continue to serve as the central hub for all public legal education and information in Ontario. CLEO develops clear, accurate, and practical legal rights education and information to help people understand and exercise their legal rights, with a particular focus on support for trusted intermediaries. The use of trusted intermediaries significantly expands access to justice for low-income individuals and people from marginalized and vulnerable communities in Ontario.

The FCJ Refugee Centre serves refugees and others at risk due to their immigration status through all steps of the refugee determination and refugee appeals processes as well as assisting with the family sponsorship and family reunification processes. The Centre primarily works with refugee claimants, rejected refugee claimants, individuals with precarious immigration status, temporary foreign workers, and those who have been trafficked. It also provides training workshops and legal education materials for frontline workers who serve refugees in the Greater Toronto Area and other parts of southern Ontario on aspects of the immigration and refugee process and procedures. The Catalyst grant will help the Centre to ensure it has the capacity and expertise to serve its clients and assist other organizations to do so, as well as to ensure its evolution and sustainability.