St. Louis Mediation Project receives $1.4 million grant

Tokarz

The St. Louis Mediation Project, co-founded by Karen Tokarz, the Charles Nagel Professor of Public Interest Law & Policy at Washington University in St. Louis, received a $1.4 million grant from the Missouri Housing Development Commission to provide free mediations in eviction court and in the community pre-filing.

The organization’s work has been particularly vital in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The St. Louis Mediation Project is a free program that helps tenants, homeowners, landlords and lenders solve housing disputes in and out of court. In 2021, clinic students and lawyer mediators provided 325 eviction mediations (125 mediations in St. Louis County eviction court and 200 pre-filing community mediations), plus rental assistance counseling to another 100 households.