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Nineteen legal services organizations across 15 states received a total of $5.5 million in awards to support their pro bono services for low-income Americans, the Legal Services Corp. announced Thursday.

The independent nonprofit, established by Congress in 1974, is distributing the grants from its Pro Bono Innovation Fund, which aids organizations providing civil legal services to low-income people to help the organization expand  those programs, it said in a news release.

"LSC's Pro Bono Innovation Fund supports grantees' tireless efforts to expand access to legal services," Ron Flagg, president of the group, said in a statement. "Pro bono volunteers are an invaluable resource for the millions of low-income Americans in need of legal aid."

Among the grant recipients were legal aid organizations in Alaska, Illinois and Maine, the nonprofit said.

The Alaska Legal Services Corp. received over $371,000 to support its Legal Care for Domestic Violence Survivors project, an initiative aimed at expanding the use of community justice workers to handle survivors' legal needs, the nonprofit said.

"Far too many Alaskans — especially women and children in our rural communities — face the devastating impacts of domestic violence without access to the legal help they need to protect themselves and their families," Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said in a statement. "We know that when survivors have access to legal help, their ability to break free from the cycle of violence increases dramatically."

Sullivan called the grant "a critical investment to expand access to justice."

Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, an organization in Illinois, received over $265,000 to support its Consumer Law Initiative, which focuses on small claims and consumer debt cases, the nonprofit said.

The group plans to use the funds to add volunteers to offer legal help in Illinois' legal deserts, Clarissa Gaff, Land of Lincoln's executive director, said in an email to Law360.

"We are grateful to LSC for the award," said Gaff. "It ensures that more residents of the Second Judicial Circuit can access assistance when facing legal problems."

Land of Lincoln's pro bono manager, Sara Ramsey, added, "This project will harness the power of volunteers, including law students, paralegal students and pro bono attorneys, who will contribute their time and knowledge while making a life-changing difference for our clients."

The largest individual grant was the nearly $423,000 given to the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. The corporation said the funds will help support current staffers and partially fund a pro bono staff attorney as it works to streamline its program across its five-county service area, including the piloting of an estate-planning project.

The Pro Bono Innovation Fund grant program began in 2014 and has handed out 180 grants worth over $50 million since then, the Legal Services Corp.said. Overall, the organization has provided financial support to 130 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, it said.

"Equal justice is one of America's most fundamental promises, but too often families struggling with debt are left without the help they need," Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said in a statement. An organization in his state, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, is among those receiving a grant, he said. "By supporting LASP's debt counseling and bankruptcy project, LSC is ensuring families can eliminate crushing debt, access pro bono attorneys and rebuild their lives with dignity."

According to "justice gap" research done by the Legal Services Corp., half of otherwise eligible low-income Americans are turned away from legal aid organizations because the groups lack adequate resources. The funding it provides through this program is aimed at supporting replicable projects in the hopes of supporting "innovative practices" so that they have an effect across the country, it said.

In a separate news release Thursday, the nonprofit announced that the House Appropriations Committee had approved $300 million in 2026 funding, a 46% cut from its current $556 million funding level. This would be roughly equal to its funding in 1999, when 45.6 million Americans qualified for nonprofit-funded legal services, it said; now, 52.3 million do, it said.

"A $260 million cut to LSC would result in nearly 3 million fewer Americans receiving vital legal assistance," it said.

President Donald Trump's budget proposal had suggested eliminating the nonprofit entirely, it said. It noted that there was widespread bipartisan support in Congress, and from external stakeholders, for it to retain "strong funding."

--Editing by Karin Roberts.