FreeState Justice, the Baltimore nonprofit providing free legal services to LGBTQIA+ people across the state, expects to have its budget reduced by 25% after losing a grant issued by the governor’s office, officials confirmed this week.

The Baltimore-based nonprofit received word at the end of May that $300,000 in funding, which flows from the federal government, will disappear in July, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

“It was a bit of a shock to go from having multiple years of increased funding to zero,” said the organization’s Executive Director Phillip Westry. If it had been reduced gradually, Westry said, it would have given the nonprofit the ability to adjust and plan.

The Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy concluded that this year, FreeState did not score highly enough in its application to receive grant funding. Arinze Ifekauche, the office’s director of communications, said the application changed for the upcoming year to prioritize organizations that directly serve victims of crime.

Despite many funding cuts made under the Trump administration, Ifekauche said there was no significant change in federal funding, the state was issued this year compared with last year.

FreeState helps LGBTQ+ people with limited incomes with legal issues, including those seeking name changes and protection from discrimination. Its work is funded by city, state and federal grants along with donations from foundations and individuals.

Westry said the grant had been a constant support for FreeState since 2018, making up about 60% of its budget for legal services. Part of that consistency was due to the pandemic, Ifekauche said, when funding through the Victims of Crime Act could only be issued to programs that had already received it.

Westry said FreeState is on track to handle more than 1,000 cases this year, nearly double the number it oversaw last year. To serve its clients, FreeState draws from a panel of volunteer attorneys who have helped community members keep their jobs, find housing and feel safe in public spaces in recent months.

The organization has seven full-time employees, but their jobs could be at risk with the funding cuts. Westry added that due to the expected cuts, their plans to expand to Montgomery County with a new field office are on hold.

Ifekauche said as competition has increased since the pandemic, the office worked to create an application more aligned with the guidelines of the act.

Ifekauche said the federal government’s policies did not influence the change, and shared support for FreeState’s work. He said FreeState’s application changed from last fiscal year to this one, focusing more on at-risk communities and less directly on victims of crime.

In the wake of the funding cuts, Westry said, FreeState plans to ask foundations for additional support to help create some “breathing room” while they look for long-term solutions. FreeState will advocate for LGBTQIA+ specific service funding from Maryland in the state’s next budget session, he added, pointing to states like New York as a model.

Geremiah Love, a 26-year-old transgender man from Baltimore, said FreeState has supported him when he faced discrimination from law enforcement and when he wanted to file two name changes.

“They’re definitely people who vouch for their community, and no matter what it is, they make sure they can bend over backwards and get it done for you,” Love said.

Westry said he hopes the community steps in with support as FreeState searches for new funding.

“We’re a unicorn. There are very few legal service organizations in the country that are specifically focused on LGBTQ rights,” Westry said.