When Kathy Ismar’s husband left her in 2014, taking their dog, she didn’t know he had stopped paying their bills for months.
“I was in a very abusive marriage for quite some time … and unbeknownst to me, he let the house go in foreclosure,” Ismar, 66, said. “I would cry every single day, all day long. This was kind of the outcome he wanted. He wanted me to lose it all.”
The Franklin Park resident filed an order of protection against her now ex-husband, but she didn’t have money to hire a lawyer. She decided to reach out to Legal Aid Chicago for help. A week later, the nonprofit said they would take her case. Ismar said she burst into tears.
But the organization Ismar says “saved [her] life,” and others like Legal Aid Chicago, are at risk of losing a chunk of their funding — enough to leave thousands in Illinois without access to free legal help — through President Donald Trump’s recent budget proposal.
Introduced last month, the budget would shutter Legal Services Corporation, the country’s largest funder of civil legal aid. The organization supports 130 legal aid providers with more than 900 offices throughout the country, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Its funding helps more than five million low-income Americans annually.
In Illinois, LSC provides $18 million to three legal aid organizations: Legal Aid Chicago, serving Cook County; Prairie State Legal Services, serving counties around Chicago and northern Illinois; and Land of Lincoln Legal Aid, which serves southern Illinois.
“LSC funding is foundational. It’s the core that allows us to leverage other grants and keep our doors open,” Legal Aid Chicago Executive Director Katherine Shank said. “Without it, the entire legal aid ecosystem in Illinois would be at risk.”
In the last year, Legal Aid Chicago has served more than 10,500 people, but the number is likely higher because of the number of families benefited, Shank said.
“We’re really talking about well over 20,000 people a year who have a direct benefit,” she said. Without LSC’s funds, it would have to turn away more than 3,000 people annually.
Legal aid organizations help survivors of domestic violence, veterans, seniors, children and disaster survivors. But it also provides free legal assistance to people who can’t afford representation in non-criminal cases.
“Most people don’t realize that there’s no right to a lawyer in civil cases. If you’re facing eviction or domestic violence, you’re on your own unless legal aid can help,” Shank said.
Ripple effects
“Legal aid is the difference between safety and danger, between having a roof over your head or being homeless, between health and illness for millions of Americans,” Legal Services Corporation president Ronald Flagg said.
People with a household income at or below 125% of the federal poverty guidelines are eligible for LSC-funded assistance, which means 60% of Americans qualify, according to LSC.
Flagg said groups receiving LSC funding, including in Illinois, still have to turn away about 50% of the eligible people seeking help due to lack of resources.
“We’re only able to help about half the people who come to us for help. The other half we have to turn away — not because their problems aren’t serious but because we just don’t have the resources,” Flagg said.
That’s why a bipartisan board, most of whom were appointed by Trump during his first presidency, recommended LSC’s budget increase from $560 million to $2.1 billion for the fiscal year 2026, which starts in October.
However, the White House is recommending LSC receive $21 million “to conduct an orderly closeout of LSC in 2026,” according to the budget.
Shank said 30% of Legal Aid Chicago’s funding comes from LSC, and that funding is crucial.
That’s because Legal Aid Chicago also provides other organizations in Illinois — ones not funded by LSC — with expertise, co-counseling and support. Cutting its LSC funding would make it difficult to help already overwhelmed non-LSC organizations, she said.
Navigating the legal system
Shank said the most common issues serviced by Legal Aid Chicago are domestic violence representation, housing instability and public benefits like food stamps, disability and veterans benefits.
“For so many of our clients, legal aid is the only way they can access justice. Without us, they’re simply left to navigate a complex legal system alone,” Shank said.
Lawyers at Legal Aid Chicago were able to save Ismar’s home from foreclosure and get it turned over to her. They got her divorce granted and her order of protection extended. Her ex-husband also paid half of the past-due bills, as well as a maintenance payment.
“I didn’t have to worry about coming in [my home] and walking on eggshells, which I did all the time when I was married,” Ismar said. “They saved me. They saved my life. They saved my house. They saved my self-esteem.”
Now, Ismar says she’s a “happy person.” Without Legal Aid Chicago, she doesn’t know if she would’ve been able to get out of her situation.
Flagg and Shank said they’re worried more residents may have to go without the help Ismar received.
The impact of LSC’s funding cut won’t be felt in Washington, D.C., Flagg said. “It will be felt by everyday Americans,” he said.
It’s closure would force legal aid providers to cut staff, limit service offerings, close branch offices and resource clinics, according to LSC.
Congress, which established the nonpartisan organization in 1974, ultimately determines the federal budget and can make substantial changes. The current budget expires Sept. 30.
“I do hope that [funding] continues,” Ismar said. “Because people do need help. And people do get to the end of their ropes with things, and sometimes you feel there’s no way out. I know the importance of what they do for people.”