AppalReD Legal Aid

Stand with Survivors. Protect Children.

Each year, AppalReD Legal Aid is a lifeline to thousands of
low-income families across eastern and south-central Kentucky. AppalReD provides free civil legal help to low income and other vulnerable people. 

AppalReD Legal Aid is facing a $425,000 shortfall this year after losing two federal grants — funds that primarily supported programs serving domestic violence survivors and abused children.

This crisis comes at a time when demand for help is higher than ever. Nearly 200 people turn to us each week for free civil legal help, including as many as three domestic violence victims every single day.

Without this critical funding, fewer people will be able to make the hardest — and bravest — decision of their lives: to leave an abusive partner. Those who do may have to face their abuser in court alone.

We know what happens when victims can’t get help. Too often, they pay with their lives. Our entire community pays too with higher rates of violent crime, more children in foster care, and trauma that lasts for generations.

Our attorneys are a lifeline for abused children. They make sure a child’s voice is heard in court and that they can finally sleep safely at night, tucked into blankets, not hiding under them. With safety comes hope: children do better in school, can stay with the non-abusive parent, and begin to break cycles of poverty and violence.

Now more than ever, victims of child abuse and domestic violence need more resources, not less.

We’re not the kind of community that lets children hide under the bed to feel safe or forces families to live with violence. You can make a difference right now.

💙 $25 helps a survivor understand their rights and options.

💙 $100 helps secure a protective order that could save a life.

Your gift in any amount will bring safety, justice, and hope to families in crisis.

Angelica's Story

Angelica came to AppalReD Legal Aid asking for help with a protective order after her husband shot her.

Somehow, she crawled out the back door and made it to a neighbor’s house nearby. The police arrived soon after.

At first, Angelica told me she believed it was an accident. But his friend later said he watched her husband aim, fire—and then, after the gun misfired—aim and shoot again.

Angelica came to us because she knew she couldn’t face him alone in court. She was terrified to testify.

Even after everything she’d endured, she worried the judge wouldn’t take her seriously because she’d filed and dismissed protective orders before. Her attorney assured her this time would be different and she wasn’t alone.

When the hearing came, she found her courage. She told her story clearly and calmly. The judge granted a three-year, no-contact Domestic Violence Order. Angelica finally felt safe.