A Message from the Staff: Cassandra Sanborn on Vision

  After I graduated from college, I started working as an AmeriCorpsVISTA member at another nonprofit in Indianapolis.  I loved what I did—writing grants and fundraising letters, researching best practices in donor management, and more.  The longer I was there, though, the more I found myself thinking only about the details of my day-to-day work.  How could I create the best grant budget?  How could I write a fundraising letter that would really connect donors to our mission?

Thankfully, I had an excellent supervisor.  She told me that sometimes when you have a deadline looming over you or when you’re worrying about a funder, it’s easy to forget why your work matters and what you’re really trying to do.  She reminded me to take the time to periodically think about our clients.

Thankfully, when I came to the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic, I realized that even though I still have a tendency to get caught up in minutia, I am surrounded by people who make it hard to forget why we do the work we do.  Our staff members and volunteers care deeply about our clients and their wellbeing—they really want to see our clients thrive.  I am fortunate to be surrounded by a group of empathetic people who are seeking to live out the instructions found in the Clinic’s vision statement, Psalm 82:3-4: “Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.  Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

I am grateful for my coworkers and for all of the volunteers that I see who demonstrate patience and compassion as they work to make a difference for our most vulnerable neighbors.