providing outreach to over a dozen diverse underserved communities, from Hialeah to Homestead, promoting its services to vulnerable, low-income individuals and families, and assisting over 250 clients who are elderly, veterans, disabled, terminally ill, aging out of foster care with no safety net in place, and victims of domestic violence and disaster. Through the use of virtual helplines, new materials, and technological upgrades, we made accessing vital information readily available to those in need, in English, Spanish and Creole. We targeted remote areas with expanded social media and podcasts and the use of cuttingedge technology to connect, coordinate, recruit and educate more people about the available services.
• Financial Protection Law Center( Wilmington, North Carolina). ACBF’ s 2024 grant supported the organization’ s expanded provision of pro bono legal and administrative services. From January through December 2024, our successfully concluded cases included 19 homes saved from foreclosure, with a cumulative fair market value of $ 3,336,227.50. At the beginning of our report period( January 1, 2024), we had 72 open case files, which included 40 open inquiries and 32 ongoing extended service cases, including 11 active, filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases for which we provide ongoing representation and support. During the grant period, we opened 94 new cases, and we closed 118 cases, including 98 brief services or advice cases and 38 extended services cases. As of the end of the report period on December 31, 2024, we had 48 open cases including 30 open inquiries and 18 extended service cases of which 8 are ongoing Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases that we continue to service.
• Veterans Legal Services( Boston, Massachusetts). The first component of the program was to create and present materials for front-line veterans’ case workers and care providers at VLS’ s legal clinic sites to help them support veterans in managing and prioritizing debts. On January 24, 2024, VLS presented in person to the staff at New England Center and Home for Veterans, one of VLS’ s community partner sites located in Boston. VLS created and gave attendees a quick reference guide for future use. Participants gave feedback through a survey which will inform future presentations on financial topics. Then, on March 13, 2024, VLS conducted the same presentation over Zoom, marketing the webinar to all VLS’ s community partner sites. Survey results from the January 2024 workshop on managing and prioritizing debt indicated that all participants found the information helpful. One hundred percent of survey participants responded“ very likely” when asked“ How likely are you to apply something you learned in this workshop?”. When asked“ What did you like about the workshop?” one respondent reported,“ Ranking the priority of debt payments was a huge help; veterans come to us with a number of financial issues and being able to determine what we address first is a massive help to focusing our efforts.” Other responses were similarly positive about the specific material presented and the knowledge of the presenters, as well as the likelihood of the participants using this knowledge to impact the lives of their clients.
I would like to continue the tradition of sharing with you a few stories from the grantees describing the powerful impact of our grants:
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