by M. Kate Thomas, Esq.
Vermont Bar Foundation 2014: Imagine
“The Vermont Bar Foundation is the
leading private funding source for dozens
of legal services and critical access to justice programs across the state.” This description appears at the top of the Vermont
Bar Foundation home page. It is an accurate statement of what the Foundation is,
but it does not convey the impact the programs and services have on Vermont residents.
Imagine:
You have been living in your apartment
for over ten years. Over time, your rent
has increased but your income has stayed
the same. Your dad had some health problems recently, and you had to take time
off work to travel out of state to help him
out. You thought you would be gone for
only a week, but when you arrived, you discovered things were much worse than you
thought and you had to stay a month. You
lost your job, and could not afford to pay
your rent. Now, the landlord has filed for
eviction. You are not sure what you can do
about this. You need a lawyer, but there is
no way you can afford to pay one.
Ninety-five percent of the funds VBF
distributes are collected from interest on
IOLTA accounts. However, in the past five
years, the revenue from this source has declined dramatically. At the same time, other
grant sources previously accessed by VBFfunded organizations have decreased. The
need for low-bono and pro-bono legal services in Vermont, however, has increased.
Imagine:
Your spouse won’t let you drive. You
don’t have access to money, partly because
he won’t let you have a job, partly because
your name isn’t on any of his accounts and
he wouldn’t tell you where the accounts
were anyway. You aren’t allowed out of his
sight in public. He hits and yells. You wish
you could get a divorce, but you can’t get
to a