On Giving Tuesday, we are honored to announce $15,000 in grants from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Foundation (AAML Foundation) to two Tallahassee-based organizations, Lee’s Place and Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee.
Lee’s Place, a Tallahassee non-profit counseling and therapy center specializing in grief, loss, and trauma counseling will receive $10,000 in grants to fund reduced and no-cost counseling and therapy services to residents in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas. The Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee, a non-profit mobilizing and educating volunteer attorneys and providing direct legal services to those in need, will use a $5,000 grant for Thunderdome Tallahassee, filling the gap in legal representation for low-income families by providing training and leadership development for volunteer attorneys in our community.
“Both Lee’s Place and the Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee are critical services for our area,” said Shannon Novey, AAML Florida Chapter Board of Managers Member and AAML Foundation (AAMLF) Lifetime member. “Everybody deserves the protection of the law, and these two organizations are committed to delivering it — which is why we are so proud to support their work with these grants.”
This is the eighteenth year of support provided to Lee’s Place by the Foundation. The grant will help fund two programs Home for the Heart, for children with at-risk behaviors during or following their parent’s divorce, and Domestic Violence Trauma, for victims of, or a witness to, domestic violence.
“Helping a family through a tragedy, giving support and guidance when most needed, has long term positive effects on children, which then has long term effects on their children, and on it goes,” said Brenda Rabalais, Ph.D, LMFT and Founder and Executive Director of Lee’s Place. “The interventions that are able to happen because of funding by AAMLF, improves a family and hence a community for the long term.”
Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee’s Thunderdome Tallahassee is entering its 8th class series and strives to fill the gap in legal representation for low-income families in Tallahassee and Leon County, Florida
“The AAML Foundation Florida grant will accelerate our mission to educate lawyers and expand access to justice in Leon County,” said Lauren Stafford. “Legal Aid Foundation of Tallahassee is extremely grateful for the opportunity to impact our community even further with the assistance of this grant.”