[caption id="attachment_1547" align="alignright" width="300" caption="IBF Grants Committee Member Ann Hatch of Belleville presents a $15,000 grant to Kathleen O’Keefe, attorney for the Neighborhood Law Office. "][/caption] The Illinois Bar Foundation Board of Directors is pleased to announce a $15,000 grant to Catholic Urban Program's Neighborhood Law Office in East St. Louis, one of 32 grants awarded this year totaling $304,995. The Neighborhood Law Office works with residents of East St. Louis to create healthy, safe and strong neighborhoods to stabilize and revitalize a decaying city. NLO brings about demolition of unsafe, abandoned structures, pressures local government for prompt and universal property code enforcement, and saves homes from foreclosure under predatory bond-for-deed home loan practices. Since 1996, NLO has helped bring about the demolition of more than 1600 dangerous, vacant buildings and removal of illegally dumped trash from over 280 lots. As the charitable affiliate of the Illinois State Bar Association, the Illinois Bar Foundation's mission is to ensure meaningful access to the justice system, especially for those with limited means, and to assist lawyers who can no longer support themselves due to incapacity. This past year, through the support of ISBA members, IBF distributed more than $425,000 to support these efforts.