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AMERICORPS LEGAL FELLOW, CLASS OF 2009
Name of Host Organization: New Orleans Legal Assistance (NOLAC)
City, State: New Orleans, Louisiana
Issue area: Health Care/Medical-Legal Collaborative, Housing/Homelessness
THE INSPIRATION
I first visited New Orleans in 2005, two weeks before Hurricane Katrina and two weeks before I started law school. When I returned in March of 2006 to volunteer legal aid and manual labor, I was shocked by the changes in New Orleans. After returning with my law school to volunteer in 2007 and 2008, I decided to move to New Orleans to pursue public interest work. It's very rewarding to work in a city where I can address legal needs and be a part of changing the landscape for how legal aid interacts with both families in need and the city it which it operates.
THE PROJECT
"The goal of the medical-legal partnership is to facilitate legal triage and access for hundreds of vulnerable families whose health or medical conditions are threatened by their overwhelming legal needs. Katrina dramatically changed the lives of New Orleans citizens. Three years later, people are dealing with a combination of environmental issues and stresses that complicate the overwhelmed health care system's attempts to address the patients' health care needs." (source - NOLAC)
BIOGRAPHY
Hometown: | Dubuque, Iowa |
Law school: | |
Making the connection: | I always planned on going to graduate school to become an English professor and, while I still love reading, I ultimately decided I wanted to do something with my life that was more hands-on and intimately involved in the day-to-day problems (housing, food, health care) that all people face. I went to law school with the intent of working in the public interest field and pursuing social justice. |
Surviving law school: | While it can be quite easy to get caught up in the grades and competitiveness of law school, choosing a school in which public service is both encouraged and appreciated by students, faculty and administration can make all the difference. During my time at Iowa, I participated in the Equal Justice Foundation, the Journal of Gender, Race & Justice, and the annual spring break service trip. These activities allowed me to meet and collaborate with other public service-minded students and helped me maintain my focus on public interest law. |
Recommended books: | The Unbearable Lightness of Being; the Thursday Next series; The World According to Garp; and Bitch magazine |
Favorite website(s): | www.jezebel.com, www.thingsiboughtthatilove.com, www.thekitchn.com, www.feministing.com, www.nymag.com, bestweekever.tv |
Music I love: | Cornershop, Donna Summer, George Clinton, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Indian Hip-Hop, Kylie Minogue, Led Zeppelin, Steps, Rage Against the Machine, Roni Size, Talib Kweli, New Young Pony Club, Le Tigre, Goldfrapp, Girl Talk, Ludacris |
Words to live by: | "When two dudes get married, the marriage-is-between-one-man-and-one-woman brigades crap their collective pants, vomit up ten thousand press releases, and run in circles screaming about all the hurricanes and earthquakes and unattractive haircuts that Our Loving Father™ is gonna rain down on our heads if we don't pry Adam off Steve right…now." - Dan Savage |