South Carolina Bar Foundation awards $7.1 million in grants for fiscal year 2027
July 24, 2026
The South Carolina Bar Foundation has awarded grants to 50 law-related nonprofit organizations and programs totaling more than $7.1 million for Fiscal Year 2027, marking the largest allocation in the organization’s 55-year history.
The grants will support nonprofit organizations across South Carolina that provide services to people living in poverty, individuals experiencing homelessness, survivors of domestic violence, those impacted by the criminal justice system, people navigating the legal system without representation, and youth interested in careers in the legal profession.
As part of a special initiative, nearly $1.2 million of the total allocation comes from the Foundation’s Impact Fund, which is designed to support innovative programs while helping organizations offset current and anticipated federal funding losses.
Four projects were selected during the second round of Impact Fund awards:
- The Rainy Day Fund and the University of South Carolina Psychology Department for a three-year study on expanding Driver’s License Reinstatement Clinics and Homeless Courts across South Carolina.
- The South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (SCCADVASA) and the South Carolina Access to Justice Commission’s Convening Group for a two-year project to document, evaluate and strengthen existing models of domestic violence-legal aid integration.
- The South Carolina Victim Assistance Network (SCVAN) for its Divorce Clinic Program serving survivors of domestic violence.
- The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law Pro Bono Program for its pro bono legal clinic case management system.
The South Carolina Bar Foundation’s mission is to promote justice by funding legal access and education. Its vision is for every person in South Carolina to recognize and secure their legal rights.
Organizations receiving grants fall into one of three categories:
- Civil legal services for low-income South Carolinians.
- Law-related public education.
- Administration of justice in South Carolina.
FY2027 Grant Recipients
- 15th Circuit Treatment Court
- Antioch Educational Center
- Immigration Legal Services of Catholic Charities of South Carolina
- Center for Heirs’ Property
- Charleston Legal Access
- Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services
- Charleston School of Law Public Interest Internships
- Coastal Conservation League
- Disability Rights South Carolina
- Donald Beatty Center for Justice & Society of USC Upstate
- Family Justice Center of Georgetown & Horry Counties
- Greenville County Human Relations
- HALOS
- Hispanic Alliance
- Hopeful Horizons
- Justice 360
- Laurens County SAFE Home
- Lowcountry Legal Volunteers
- Lowcountry Mediation Center
- Lutheran Services Carolinas
- Midlands Mediation Center
- Myrtle Beach STEM Academy
- NC Center on Actual Innocence (for South Carolina cases)
- One80 Place Legal Services
- Pathways to Healing
- Project R.E.S.T.
- Rainy Day Fund
- SC Appleseed
- SC Bar Law-Related Education
- SC Bar Law Talks & Law School for Non-Lawyers
- SC Bar Pro Bono Program
- SCCADVASA
- SC Victim Assistance Network
- Serve & Connect
- Sistercare
- South Carolina Access to Justice Commission
- South Carolina Environmental Law Project
- South Carolina Legal Services
- South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families
- South Carolina Supreme Court Historical Society
- South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
- The National Judicial College
- Time Served
- Transitions Homeless Center
- Turn90
- Upstate Mediation Center
- Upstate Medical-Legal Partnership
- USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law Public Interest Fellows
- USC Salkehatchie
“Guided by a deep commitment to our grantees and the legal community across South Carolina, the Board of Directors is honored to distribute this substantial grant funding during the Foundation’s 55th anniversary year,” said Marti Bluestein, president of the South Carolina Bar Foundation Board of Directors. “These investments underscore the essential role that civil legal aid, law-related education and administration of justice programs play in strengthening communities and ensuring equal access to justice.”
One grant recipient said the Foundation’s funding “helps ensure that clients gain access to legal remedies and support that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.”
Another recipient noted that the Foundation is “fostering a culture of collaboration among grantees,” creating “meaningful opportunities to work more closely with peers across the state, leading to stronger partnerships, more efficient use of resources and deeper impact for the communities we collectively serve.”
For more information about the South Carolina Bar Foundation and its grant recipients, visit scbarfoundation.org.
About the South Carolina Bar Foundation
The South Carolina Bar Foundation promotes justice by funding legal access and education. Since 1971, the Foundation has awarded more than $65 million to law-related organizations across South Carolina.
