Page 105 - ACTL Journal Win24

There could not be a better example of “Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”
Other notable awards that the Foundation funded in fiscal year 2023 were the College’s annual $150,000 Gumpert Award to the In- nocence Project New Orleans (see p. 27) and a $100,000 award to last year’s Gumpert Award runner up, Project One Vet @ a Time (“PO- VAT”). POVAT, through the use of volunteer counsel, assists veterans in obtaining disability benefits that they are entitled to receive but that
Our second grant was a $50,000 award to REDEMPTION are often denied by the VA. The Foundation’s
EARNED to assist Alabama prison inmates in their parole hear- ings. The overall success rate for inmates in parole hearings in Ala- bama last year was only 9%, while in proceedings handled by Re- demption-trained volunteer lawyers and law students, the success rate increased to 63%. In addition to a $75,000 start-up grant last year and a $50,000 grant this year, the Foundation has offered up to $25,000 in additional funding to match contributions raised from other sources. The objective is to enable this program to be- come self-sustaining.
$100,000 award will enable POVAT to assist up to twenty additional disabled veterans who are estimated to be due approximately $9M more in benefits than they have received.
Our third grant went to the PENNSYLVANIA INNOCENCE PROJECT (PIP), which received $50,000 to facilitate DNA train- ing of two staff members who will in turn provide DNA training for other lawyers at the organization. DNA expertise, of course, is critical to successfully resolving many Innocence Project cases.
Because Justice can’t wait . . .
David Hensler Foundation President
WINTER 2024
JOURNAL 104
The Foundation’s good work is entirely de- pendent upon the generosity of Fellows of the College. 100% OF YOUR CONTRI- BUTIONS WILL BE USED FOR CHAR- ITABLE GRANTS – with no deduction for administrative expenses, fundraising or any other purpose. We don’t know of any other charity that can make that statement, which means that there is no more efficient or economical use of your charitable contri- butions. Fellows who contribute to the Foun- dation are recognized both in the Directory and in the Foundation’s annual Impact Re- port. Hence, if you haven’t already made a meaningful contribution to the Foundation for this fiscal year, please do so now either by check of through the ACTL website.