The Texas Bar Foundation awarded South Texas College of Law Houston a $25,000 grant to support the law school’s pro bono clinic.
The grant provides stipends to “qualified, unlicensed law school graduates” to assist tenants in fighting evictions and maintaining housing stability.
“We are grateful to the Texas Bar Foundation for this generous grant,” said Catherine Greene Burnett, vice president, associate dean for experiential learning, professor of law, and director of the pro bono honors program at STCL Houston, in a press release. “As the world continues to struggle with the pandemic, low-income Texans need free or low-cost legal information and representation now more than ever. As the need grows, the legal profession has struggled to meet that need due to limited funding and capacity by legal aid providers and pro bono attorneys.”
Grant money provides the immediate need for additional support to attorneys and volunteers at housing stability clinics that provide on-site education, rental assistance, and legal representation, as well as full representation in courts in Harris County which have the highest eviction dockets in the state. The STCL Houston pro bono clinic has already helped more than 1,400 families facing eviction.
For more information about STCL Houston, go to stcl.edu.
For more information about the Texas Bar Foundation, go to txbf.org.