Jasmine Smith couldn’t believe her eyes. She worked hard and needed her full paycheck just to get by. Now she was being presented with a claim to garnish her wages for a debt that she allegedly owed. Read on for the full story.

Before Stephanie Kilpatrick became a staff attorney at the Clinic, she worked in many different fields, including behind the scenes in broadcasting, as the frontwoman of a big band, and in various church leadership positions. Her legal career has likewise taken many twists and turns. Most recently, after 18 years as a real estate attorney, she felt the Lord pulling her in a new direction. She wanted to use her legal skills to serve the Lord.

While INHP works to keep families safely and affordably housed, ultimately their efforts are about more than just putting a roof over someone’s head. “Being a homeowner is a lifelong dream for so many of the families that come to INHP,” says Rob. “So often, they are first-generation homeowners, meaning nobody else in their family has been able to achieve that before. And it represents a place to call their own.”

On April 11th, we celebrated the 51st anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. The Act was passed in 1968, just seven days following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and guaranteeing, as a matter of law, equal access to housing opportunities for all Americans, regardless of race, color, creed, or national origin.

Would it surprise you to learn that Indianapolis experiences 11,082 evictions every year, second only to New York City, a city of 8.5 million people? Every day in this city, 31.7 families are faced with the severe economic and emotional hardship that comes with an eviction.

Since 2013, the Legal Clinic has partnered with Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation (HVAF) to meet the legal needs of homeless veterans in Indiana. Celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, HVAF has come a long way from their first housing project when they established a residence for five homeless veterans. In 2017 alone, they served more than 1300. Bryan Dysert, Director of Programs and Services at HVAF, says, “[We have the] capacity to house 158 veterans on any given night. And while they’re in that program, they’re receiving case management services, employment services, legal services—really anything that they need to get back to self-sufficiency.”

What are Community Development Corporations and what is their role in your community? 

In this episode of Courting Justice, host Ashley Caveda speaks with Mike Bowling from Englewood CDC and David Cederquist from Brookside CDC, along with Clinic Executive Director Chris Purnell. Together, they address the above questions and share their stories of relational ministry within their communities, as well as the pitfalls of gentrification and how true community development can combat them.

“What’s great about being a church is we’re not Human Services and we don’t want to be Human Services,” says David. “A guy coming out of prison needs resources, but he doesn’t need to be resourced. He needs relationships.” For Brookside CDC, this means regular meetings where staff and those seeking assistance can be real with one another. Their men also go through an education series. “We’re checking off boxes to make sure they don’t have a reason to go back to their drugs or crime or old lifestyles, but they are walking in newness with a Bridge Coach that will support them all the way through the process,” David says.