VLS Receives Grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation

Veterans Legal Services is excited to announce that it recently received a generous grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation. These funds will help support and expand VLS’s work at VA healthcare sites, including the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, in Bedford, as well as the VA Boston healthcare system.

VLS is one of only 44 organizations nationwide — and just one of two in Massachusetts — to receive a Spring 2021 grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation. BWF awards grants biannually through a highly competitive application and review process, supporting organizations that provide high-impact services to military veterans and their families.

“Veterans Legal Services is extremely honored to have earned the support of the Bob Woodruff Foundation and is excited to partner with them to meet the ever-growing civil legal assistance needs of veterans in Massachusetts,” said Sarah Roxburgh, Esq., co-executive director and chief of operations at VLS. “By making our free legal aid services more readily available throughout the VA healthcare system in Bedford and Boston, VLS will expand access to veterans who would otherwise go without the essential legal help they need.”

Veterans Legal Services is dedicated to promoting equity in the accessing of justice, and works to alleviate civil legal challenges — including housing instability, accessing financial and medical benefits, barriers to employment, and family law matters — in the lives of economically disadvantaged veterans in Massachusetts. Left unresolved, civil legal problems will often negatively impact the health, happiness, and stability of these veterans as well as their family members.

“We’re all hopeful for a brighter future beyond COVID-19, but right now millions of veterans, their families, and caregivers are still facing challenges that were created or exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Anne Marie Dougherty, chief executive officer of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. “Through these grants, the Bob Woodruff Foundation is helping veterans and their families access high-quality care and resources, eliminating barriers to their success, and empowering them to thrive.”

About Veterans Legal Services

Veterans Legal Services helps Massachusetts veterans overcome adversity by providing free civil legal aid that honors their service, promotes well-being, and responds to their distinctive needs. VLS serves approximately 700 economically disadvantaged veterans in Massachusetts each year.

About the Bob Woodruff Foundation The Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) was founded in 2006 after reporter Bob Woodruff was hit by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq. Since then, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has led an enduring call to action for people to stand up for heroes and meet the emerging and long-term needs of today’s veterans.

For more information, please contact VLS Director of Communications and Development Jeff Lemberg at jeff@veteranslegalservices.org.