2009 Grant Recipients
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| SABA-SC PUBLIC INTEREST FOUNDATION AWARDS $17,000 IN GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS TO LOCAL PUBLIC INTEREST ORGANIZATIONS AND LAW STUDENTS | ||
| The South Asian Bar Association of Southern California Public Interest Foundation (“Foundation”) is proud to announce that it has awarded grants and fellowships totalling $17,000 to local organizations and law school students committed to serve the public interest. The Foundation awarded grants to the following organizations: the Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center; the Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice; the South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency; and the South Asian Network. The Foundation also awarded summer public interest fellowships to USC law school student Shouvik Biswas and UCLA law school student Roopal Patel. | ||
| The Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center (APADRC), founded in 1989, provides conflict resolution and mediation services to low income, monolingual, traditionally disadvantaged communities and schools. APADRC’s strength lies in its ability to provide services in multiple Asian and Pacific Islander languages. It is the only organization in the country that has a mission of assisting diverse Asian and Pacific Islander communities to resolve conflicts through mediation. APADRC will use the Foundation’s grant funding to further develop the South Asian Mediation Project which will bring its mediation services to the South Asian communities of Los Angeles County. | ||
| The Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice (LACLJ) is one of the few agencies in Los Angeles County that provides free, high-quality legal advice and representation in family law cases regardless of immigration status. LACLJ has been serving the Los Angeles communities of the East side since 1973. LACLJ’s Family law Unit focuses on providing assistance primarily to victims of domestic violence, non-English speakers, undocumented immigrants and other groups facing barriers to accessing the legal system. LACLJ will use its funding from the Foundation to continue its work in providing legal services to South Asian victims of domestic violence. | ||
| The South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency (SAHARA) is a non-profit organization founded and directed by South Asian professionals who volunteer their time to help serve the growing South Asian community in Southern California. SAHARA services all eight counties of Southern California. In August 2003, SAHARA established one of the only Transitional Living Homes in Southern California for South Asian victims of domestic violence. SAHARA will use its grant funding to provide multilingual and culturally competent direct legal clinics through project LEAF (Law Enforcement and Freedom) to South Asian victims of domestic violence. | ||
| The South Asian Network (SAN) is a grassroots, community based organization dedicated to advancing the health, empowerment and solidarity of persons of South Asian origin in Southern California. Since its inception in 1990, SAN has provided a safe, open forum for individuals of South Asian origin to gather and address social, economic and political issues facing the community. SAN will utilize its grant to expand its Workers’ Rights Project which conducts outreach, community education, case management, worker organizing and leadership development for South Asian workers in Southern California. | ||
| Law student fellowship recipients Shouvik Biswas and Roopal Patel have shown an exemplary commitment to public interest law and serving the South Asian communities. Mr. Biswas will be working at the South Asian Network this summer assisting in case management on domestic abuse, immigration and civil rights issues affecting the South Asian community. Ms. Patel will be working at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she will be providing legal assistance to local indigent communities, working on larger impact litigation cases and providing assistance to the Mazibuko Constitutional Court (South Africa’s Supreme Court). | ||
| The Foundation thanks its supporters for their generosity and congratulates grant recipients for their dedication to public interest work. Foundation president Pamela Tahim said: “In these tough economic times, the fact that the Foundation is able to support these exceptional organizations and law students speaks volumes about the graciousness of the Foundation’s donors. Through the continued support from the legal community, the Foundation is able to fund these grantees and students to continue the Foundation’s mission of providing legal and social services to the underserved South Asian communities of Southern California.” Grant and Fellowship Committee Chair Harit Trivedi added: “Congratulations to these outstanding organizations and individuals. They inspire us all through their commitment to public service. The Foundation is proud to support this important public interest work.” | ||
| Rekha Bajaria, President of SAHARA, appreciated the Foundation’s continued support: ”Thanks to SABA’s Grant, SAHARA was able to secure APALC services and provided 12 legal clinics in the year 2008. These combined efforts of SABA, APALC and SAHARA helped to empower and educate more than 50 Domestic Violence victims regarding their legal status.” Joyti Chand, Coordinator of the Civil Rights Unit of SAN, added: ”With the support of the Foundation, South Asian Network will continue its work to challenge exploitation and discrimination impacting low income, immigrant South Asian workers. This work must be carried forward and expanded, especially in the context of the economic crisis and how it is compromising the health and well being of underprivileged community members. We thank the SABA Foundation for it’s generous support.” Charles Chang, Executive Director of APADRC, said: ”APADRC is excited to receive a grant this year to continue the South Asian Mediation Project that was started last year with a grant from SABA-SC Public Interest Foundation. The grant will allow us to continue to outreach to the South Asian community and provide our services, particularly to those who are low-income and monolingual.” |
socalsaba@gmail.com
SABA SC Public Interest
Foundation
P.O. Box 4587
Cerritos,
California 90703-4587
