Summary

The Hub is thrilled to feature the Texas Access to Justice Foundation in the Summer 2025 issue of Partner Perspectives, a quarterly column that highlights the strategic, collaborative work done alongside one of CHEER’s 25 diverse partners.

Partner Type: Community

Year of Establishment: 1984

Headquarters: Austin, TX

Mission: Giving All Texans Equal Access to the Justice System

The Hub’s community partners provide CHEER with a boots-on-the-ground perspective of its case study areas. They help describe the lived experiences, coping, and decision-making of community members to ensure that CHEER’s computational framework is based on research outcomes that are aligned with community-defined goals. This will support community members in making well-informed decisions to manage their risk. Read on to learn about the Texas Access to Justice Foundation‘s important work alongside the Hub.

 

A Word From Our Partner

Dana Nelson (She/Her)

Dana Nelson is a program officer at the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. Early in her career, she was a lawyer for Legal Aid of Central Texas, representing clients with housing issues. In 2022, she joined the TAJF after retiring from public service as a prosecutor specializing in family violence and sexual assault. In her current position, she is responsible for grant administration and overseeing the management of donated and public funds.

“Although I was not looking for a new career or even a job (upon my retirement), when I saw a position available to work (at TAJF), I could not pass it up. Working at TAJF affords me many opportunities to engage with legal service providers and other funders of legal services about how to improve the whole system and better serve clients.”

 

The Mission and Vision

The Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) is the leading funder of legal aid in Texas, serving as the state’s flagship in financing, preserving, and innovating the delivery system for civil legal services. Created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 1984, the TAJF was formed to support civil legal services for poor and low-income Texans. Today, the nonprofit serves the Supreme Court of Texas by administering millions of dollars in grants per year that are appropriated through the Texas Legislature, the Office of the Attorney General, statewide fees, and donations. This funding, which is distributed as grants to roughly 40 organizations across the state, allows legal aid organizations to provide a range of free legal assistance in civil matters, including protection from domestic violence, supporting veterans’ mental health, and assistance with housing issues, to more than 100,000 low-income Texans each year. Since its creation more than 40 years ago, TAJF has administered financial support for civil legal services totaling more than $1.76 billion.

Working with the Hub 

Some of the TAJF’s programs are more specialized. For example, the organization maintains a reserve of funds designated to support its grantees that provide civil legal services to low-income Texans after a disaster. This is where the missions of the Hub and the TAJF intersect. This partnership allows CHEER to capture local knowledge, perspectives, and residents’ post-disaster experience in one of its three case study areas. The TAJF, which joined the Hub as a community partner in 2024, is uniquely situated within disaster response in Texas because of its participation in statewide disaster readiness efforts. The TAJF’s experience in supporting legal aid efforts following hurricanes and floods provides invaluable information for the Hub. For example, interviews with local legal service providers have shed light on the individual issues they face in meeting the needs of clients after a disaster. The insights gained from these conversations can inform the Hub’s research priorities and steer the TAJF toward addressing the area(s) of greatest need in the communities they serve.

Looking Forward

The TAFJ will continue to work alongside CHEER and support its research efforts. The Hub is collaborating with its community partners across its three case studies to distribute a survey to local residents that will gather data about household hurricane risk, including decisions about mitigation. The insights gained from this project will provide critical information to the TAJF that will support the efforts of its grantees in the future in reducing risk for hurricane-related loss.

Getting Involved

You can support the TAJF by donating here on their website. Volunteer opportunities are available for attorneys, law students, deferred associates, and others with a professional background in law. The TAJF instructs those interested in donating their time and expertise to support their mission to visit ProBonoTexas.org.

To learn more about the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, visit their website or the Hub’s Partners page.