FFLA - Funding Florida Legal Aid (formerly The Florida Bar Foundation)

Causes: Arts & Culture, Crime & Law, Fund Raising & Fund Distribution, Law & Jurisprudence, Legal Services, Public Interest Law

Mission: Today in Florida, thousands of low-income individuals and families are trying to deal with difficult legal problems alone. For them, access to justice often is elusive, or worse, unattainable. The problems faced by the poor are very real. Those who FFLA helps include: DISASTER SURVIVORS WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO PUT THEIR LIVES BACK TOGETHER CHILDREN WHO ARE LOST IN THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM VETERANS AT RISK OF HOMELESSNESS WHEN THEIR VA BENEFITS ARE WRONGFULLY DENIED ELDERLY AND DISABLED FLORIDIANS WHO NEED HELP SECURING THEIR RIGHTFUL BENEFITS Civil legal aid removes barriers to stable and productive lives — and when the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors are improved, all Floridians benefit. The Florida Bar Board of Governors brought The Florida Bar Foundation into existence in 1956 as a nonprofit corporation chartered to foster law-related public interest programs on behalf of Florida’s legal profession. In 2023, the Foundation changed its name to FFLA. The name describes our primary function – Funding Florida Legal Aid. FFLA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase access to the justice system for people of limited means by funding legal services, developing innovative tools and programs, and support legal aid providers and the courts. Through strategic grantmaking, FFLA funds local and statewide civil legal aid organizations and projects to improve the administration of justice and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the legal aid delivery system. FFLA engages in catalytic philanthropy by investing in training, technology, technical assistance, assessment and capacity-building for legal aid and works to develop and expand innovative pro bono initiatives. While principal support for FFLA’s charitable activities comes from the Interest on Trust Accounts (IOTA) Program implemented by the Florida Supreme Court in 1981, FFLA grants also are supported by gifts from Florida attorneys, law firms, corporations, foundations and other individuals. We offer help, but we also count on yours.