A Message from Community Partnerships Manager Ben Hayes

Ben Hayes

Flexibility is a hallmark of the Clinic and my role has evolved as Clinic needs have changed. Because of this, two years ago, I began serving as the Community Partnerships Manager. This role primarily focused on the Clinic’s robust relationships with organizations all over the state of Indiana, and particularly here in Indianapolis. But, a few months ago, I also took over the duties of volunteer coordinator. Now, I build and maintain relationships with both community partners and individual volunteers. And both of these groups are absolutely essential to the Clinic’s work.

Volunteers make up more than 90% of our intake team, meaning that many of the people who first connect with the Clinic do so through a volunteer. With only 11 attorneys on staff, there’s no way we could run our city-wide intake process without our volunteer intake attorneys. At intakes, these attorneys represent both the Clinic and the love of Jesus, bringing smiles, warm handshakes, and guidance through the maze of our legal system to those who are often in the midst of scary or confusing situations.

Some of our volunteer attorneys take referral cases, where they act as legal representatives for clients, often dedicating hours of time in pro bono representation. Other attorneys dedicate time to Clinic one-day events, where they join our team in processing applications for many clients for citizenship, or naturalization, or refugee adjustment in the course of a single day.

Besides our attorneys, we also have a team of translators and interpreters who ensure attorneys can speak with clients from many backgrounds. And we have a host of volunteers that provides support, encouragement, and spiritual direction for our staff.

I haven’t covered all the ways the Clinic’s many volunteers help us promote justice for all people, but I can say with certainty that, without these helping hands, the Clinic wouldn’t exist. Volunteers are absolutely critical to our mission, and we couldn’t be more grateful for all the work they do. 

In fact, in recognition of this pivotal role our volunteers play, we are holding an exclusive Volunteer Appreciation Open House on Friday, February 28 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM at Trinity Episcopal Church for our volunteers and their families. This event is free and will feature delicious food catered by local Mexican restaurant Red Habanero. There will also be small gifts given to our volunteers as a token of our appreciation. I am so excited to meet and thank you in person for your generous work. I hope you can attend.

If you are a volunteer and would like to register for our Volunteer Appreciation Open House, please visit our website. If you would like more information about volunteering, please contact Ben Hayes at bhayes@nclegalclinic.org.