Congratulations to Gillian Ellison and Alex Clark—former MLSA staff members and current law students at the University of Montana—for being invited to serve on the board of the Montana Justice Foundation (MJF), the largest private funder of legal aid in the state! Recommended by MLSA Executive Director Alison Paul for their dedication to improving access …
Advocates boost legal services to MT’s native tribes
A new program from the Montana Legal Services Association is boosting legal assistance to people living on the state’s tribal land. The Tribal Advocate Incubator Project gives lay people the skills they need to help Montana’s underserved Indigenous population. Right now, many of Montana’s Indigenous people lack legal services or the money they need to …
Getting started with pro bono can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be
Attorneys, are you looking for ways to fulfill your professional responsibility to provide at least 50 hours of service for the public good this year? Stuart Segrest, President of the State Bar of Montana, discusses his experience providing pro bono services through MLSA in his article found on page 4 of the most recent Montana …
Talk Justice, an LSC Podcast: Causes and Consequences of Eviction
Experts discuss a new report on the causes and consequences of eviction in Montana, as well as the impact of eviction on U.S. children. The recently released “Montana Eviction Impact Report: Beyond Housing Affordability” surveyed evicted Montanans on the socioeconomic factors that led to their eviction and the impacts that it had on their household after …
Gallatin and Park nonprofits benefit from $6.5 million grant distribution
Thank you to the The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation for your support of many incredible organizations across the state of Montana.
Eviction report highlights issues facing renters in Montana
Helena Independent Record A significant portion of people in Montana who faced eviction during the pandemic were either single mothers, very low-income, had mental illness issues in their household before they lost their housing or fell into all those categories. Many also ended up homeless, according to a new report from a team of data …
Montana groups receive $1.2M in grants from Bremer trust
Two Helena-based groups were among the 190 grants that will share $20.3 million from the Otto Bremer Trust, it was announced Tuesday. bremer.PNG Nearly two dozen Montana organizations were awarded $1.2 million, the trust reported. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Montana, Helena will receive $45,000 for general operations to create and support one-to-one youth …
Tough times: Local organizations shoulder bigger burden as pandemic-era support programs end
Pandemic era programs supporting human services have begun to sunset this year, including one supporting people struggling to pay rent. The ramifications of that program’s sunset have not yet come fully to light, but local nonprofits and national tracking programs seem to signal that it’s beginning to affect the Gallatin County community, though the degree …
Medicaid ‘unwinding’ clogs call centers, blocking access to other safety-net programs
The bottleneck caused by states’ reevaluation of Medicaid enrollees has swept up low-income families that rely on other public assistance programs. MISSOULA, Mont. — An hour before sunrise, Shelly Brost walked a mile in freezing rain to the public assistance office. She was running out of time to prove she still qualified for food aid …
Report: Montana renters faced eviction challenges during pandemic
HELENA (KPAX) — Housing affordability and availability have remained major concerns across Montana over the last few years, and that’s put added pressure on people dealing with evictions. The Montana Legal Services Association (MLSA) released a report this week, highlighting some of the ongoing impacts for people who went through the eviction process during the COVID-19 …