West Tennessee Legal Services, which provides legal aid to low-income clients, is facing uncertainty due to the termination of a crucial Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant. This funding, which supports housing discrimination cases, was cut by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Trump administration. Although the grant was temporarily reinstated following a lawsuit, the future remains unclear, especially for the next two years of funding. The uncertainty is causing chaos, forcing the nonprofit to take on fewer cases and divert funds from other services. The situation is compounded by the state’s dissolution of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission.
Uncertainty over the continuation of federal fair housing grants under Trump administration cuts is keeping a West Tennessee legal aid nonprofit from helping as many clients as they typically would.
West Tennessee Legal Services provides free civil legal aid to limited-income clients in counties west of the Tennessee River, helping people secure or retain housing and meet other family safety needs.
The organization gets more than half of its housing services budget from an annual Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination. The Fair Housing Act bars discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability.
The funding helps pay for education, outreach, legal casework and investigations, Director of Special Projects Vanessa Bullock said.
Bullock served as the nonprofit’s Fair Housing Project director and was involved in these grants for many years. She said most of the housing work they do — about 50-65% — benefits people with disabilities. The organization serves around 200 West Tennessee housing clients each year and sub-grants funding to Legal Aid offices in Middle and East Tennessee for similar programs.
But on Feb. 27, West Tennessee Legal Services received a letter informing them that the remainder of their $425,000 grant for the year was terminated immediately. The grant was one of 78 fair housing grants scrapped by HUD under the cost-cutting mission of President Donald Trump’s newly named Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The termination came with no explanation.
West Tennessee Legal Services is used to navigating presidential transitions — every four to eight years, they go through grant re-negotiation when administrations’ priorities change. This time, there was no opportunity to have those conversations, Bullock said.
“There’s been speculation about why certain grants were cut and certain ones weren’t … Did we use too many of their target words in our application when other people didn’t? We honestly don’t know,” Bullock said. “In general, it’s just further fallout from cutting things without really understanding what they’re doing, without clear reason why.”
Four fair housing organizations filed a class action lawsuit in March contesting the sudden clawback. After a judge issued a temporary restraining order, HUD reinstated funding for West Tennessee Legal Services — which was not involved in the lawsuit — and others. The judge has since dissolved the order, noting that the lawsuit should be filed in the Court of Federal Claims.
“This decision should not be read as an endorsement of the brusque and seemingly insensitive way in which the terminations were announced,” Massachusetts District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns wrote in his decision.
The housing organizations are appealing the dissolution of the restraining order, and the lower court case is stayed in the meantime, court records show. HUD has not sent out fresh termination letters as of May 16.
West Tennessee Legal Services is treating the grant as reinstated, for now, but the future remains murky. The first year of the 3-year grant ends on July 31. It’s not clear if HUD intends to renegotiate the grants for years two and three, leaving a total $850,000 in question.
HUD could not be immediately reached for comment.
The organization is stuck in limbo, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best, Bullock said. That means taking on fewer cases than they normally would. If the grant funding doesn’t come through after July 31, they will have to reallocate cases to other funding sources.
The uncertainty, she said, is causing chaos.
“We could have helped a lot of people with the time we spent trying to figure out the fallout from this,” Bullock said.
Ripple effects go beyond fair housing
West Tennessee Legal Services’ most typical housing cases involve people of all ages with disabilities. This could mean helping people know their rights and ask for things they are entitled to, like landlord approval for their service animal, or a release from their second-floor apartment lease if a mobility impairment forces them to seek more accessible housing, Bullock said.
Other disabilities are not as easily seen. The nonprofit helps people who are in recovery from addiction — considered a disability under the Fair Housing Act — find housing despite rental histories tarnished by their addiction and past behavior. They also help survivors of domestic violence either terminate leases to seek new housing or get other reasonable accommodations like additional locks.
Current clients will be taken care of, Bullock said. They may not even be aware that future funding is at risk. But moving those cases to other eligible funding sources has ripple effects.
“It’s not necessarily going to affect just housing funds. It’s going to affect our whole organization, to some extent, because we’re going to be taking funds that our family law unit might have been using to do family law work to do some housing work,” Bullock explained.
The loss of (funding) for our agencies, plus the loss of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission happening at the same time is going to lead to people falling into the cracks,
– Vanessa Bullock, West Tennessee Legal Services
The biggest impact will be for future clients that they will have to turn away, she said.
By law, the Attorney General’s Office has until June 30 to reassign the now-defunct commission’s caseload.
“The loss of (funding) for our agencies, plus the loss of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission happening at the same time is going to lead to people falling into the cracks,” Bullock said.
Another consequence of the potential funding loss could be felt by congressional offices and HUD itself, West Tennessee Legal Services Executive Director Ashley Holliday said.
The nonprofit’s screening process helps educate people about their rights, what the Fair Housing Act protects, and what proof is needed for a successful case, Bullock said. If West Tennessee Legal Services has less resources to take calls and provide education to tenants and landlords alike, those calls are likely to end up going to congressional representatives and HUD instead.
“Frankly, we’re constituent services,” Holliday said. “When congressmen get calls from constituents saying, ‘I can’t get my Social Security case handled, I need help,’ we’re one of the agencies that they send their constituents to … This obviously affects the services that we can provide.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.
SUBSCRIBE
Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This article presents a critical perspective of federal funding cuts under the Trump administration, emphasizing the negative impact on legal aid for vulnerable populations such as low-income tenants, people with disabilities, and survivors of domestic violence. It highlights the nonprofit’s struggles with abrupt grant terminations and the broader consequences for social justice and housing rights, topics often associated with center-left advocacy for government-supported social services and civil rights protections. The tone is factual but sympathetic to the challenges faced by organizations reliant on government funding, with no overt partisan language but a clear focus on consequences of conservative fiscal policies.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-19 15:37:00
The Tennessee attorney general’s office will retain the 30 positions from the Human Rights Commission when it assumes the commission’s duties on July 1, following the commission’s abolition by legislation signed by Gov. Bill Lee. The transition, part of a longstanding change, is expected to have no financial impact as existing resources and commission funding will be used. The AG’s Civil Rights Enforcement Division invites current commission employees to apply for new roles. Democrats criticized AG Skrmetti, alleging broken promises to absorb staff and expressing concern over the commission’s dismantling and future direction. The commission will hold its final meeting this Friday.
(The Center Square) – The Tennessee attorney general’s office will keep the 30 positions allocated to the Human Rights Commission when it takes over the commission’s duties on July 1, a spokesman said.
The 62-year-old Human Rights Commission was abolished by a bill passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Bill Lee last week. The change is not expected to have a financial impact on the state as the attorney general can use existing resources, including the funding for positions at the commissions, according to the bill’s fiscal note.
“The Office of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Enforcement Division is committed to building a strong, qualified team to effectively and efficiently enforce the Tennessee Human Rights Act,” wrote Chad Kubis, a spokesman for Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, in an email to The Center Square. “The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office notified current employees of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission that if they wish to be considered for a position in the Civil Rights Enforcement Division, they may contact the AG’s office to schedule an interview. We hope to engage with many of them throughout the transition.”
Democrats criticized Skrmetti on Monday. House Democratic Leader Karen Camper accused the attorney general of a “breach of trust.” She said Skrmetti promised her that the Human Rights Commission staff would be absorbed into other state agencies.
“There is still time to right this wrong … it is up to you to determine how your legacy as attorney general will be remembered: as one who dismantled a vital institution and misled those trying to protect it – or as someone who corrected course and chose to stand on the side of fairness, truth, and the people of this state,” Camper said.
Rep. Jesse Chism, D-Memphis, who chairs the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators, sent Skrmetti a letter asking for clarification.
“Is it your intention to simply to push aside their collective decades of training and expertise with only a cursory glance at their resumes? If so, does this represent a change in direction of the Human Rights Commission’s mission now that it is under your direction,” Chism wrote in the letter.
The Human Rights Commission will hold its last meeting on Friday.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The article presents factual reporting on the Tennessee attorney general’s office assuming responsibility for the Human Rights Commission, highlighting the key actions taken by Governor Bill Lee and the General Assembly. The article does not show a clear ideological stance but includes criticisms from Democratic lawmakers, which reflect partisan opposition to the decision. The tone of the piece is neutral, and it does not promote a particular viewpoint but rather reports on the differing perspectives. The inclusion of Democratic criticism provides a balance, allowing readers to understand the opposing views without casting judgment on either side.
SUMMARY: As efforts to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education intensify, advocates express concern about the impact on Tennessee’s most vulnerable students. The Office for Civil Rights, responsible for addressing discrimination, has seen delays in handling complaints, potentially leaving students without protection. Advocates warn that the loss of DEI programs and cuts to the Office’s workforce, including 240 layoffs, will harm students’ civil rights. With disability discrimination as a major issue, there are fears that state-level enforcement won’t provide consistent protections. Advocates stress that dismantling the Department risks undoing decades of progress in safeguarding student rights.
SUMMARY: FBI Director Cash Patel has called Memphis the “homicide capital of America” and announced plans to send a federal task force to combat the city’s violent crime. This follows a weekend of shootings, including the deaths of three people, one being a 16-year-old girl. Despite Memphis police reporting a decrease in murders this year, with 23 fewer than last year, the city continues to face high levels of violence. Patel’s task force, involving 1,500 agents, will focus on tackling violent crime in Memphis and Tennessee starting later this year.
As Memphis Police responded to a number of shootings and other violent incidents over the weekend, the city was hit with the label “homicide capital of America” by FBI Director Kash Patel. In a sit-down interview with FOX News on Sunday, Patel said Memphis leads the nation in homicides per capita and vowed to deploy a federal task force to Tennessee.
