Meet Staff Attorney Stephanie Kilpatrick

Stephanie Kilpatrick

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.

Stephanie asked for feedback on a newly updated resume from her Facebook friends, with no mention of her desire to work at Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic. Just fifteen minutes passed before a friend offered to introduce her to the Clinic’s then executive director. “Within an hour, I had an interview scheduled and within two days, I had a job offer,” she says. “I guess that was what God wanted!”

Now, she serves as part of the Clinic’s Consumer Justice Program (CJP), helping with foreclosure prevention work, landlord/tenant cases, other consumer issues, and conducting initial client consultations through various intake sites around the city. One case that stays with Stephanie in particular is that of an older veteran whom she describes as having “an unstoppable, sunny outlook.” After his wife passed away, this man lost his home and did not have a place to live for some time. When he finally found an apartment with the help of a social worker, he could barely afford the rent and had to carefully ration his food. He soon was the target of a fraudster, who stole his truck and his Social Security income. Eventually, this veteran came to the Clinic for assistance because he was facing eviction and was confused about how his money had been stolen. “We worked out settlements with the landlord and the store that was used to commit the fraud,” Stephanie says. “We found him a place in assisted living and made sure his end-of-life plans and documents were in place.” Through her legal work, Stephanie was able to help her client make positive strides towards stability and safety in his life.

But the hardest moments for Stephanie are when there is no positive resolution to be had or when she assists a client with a legal issue who is also struggling in many other areas of their life that she cannot help remedy. Over time, she has learned to accept that these non-legal difficulties are part of a systemic problem that she is not equipped to solve. “This is where I must always keep God’s Grace first in mind. 

Indeed, her trust in God is the very foundation of her life. A young adult convert to Christianity, her faith journey was accelerated and intensified after her marriage separation. “I went through a Job time where most everything that had been a part of my life was stripped away and I found myself immersed in solitude and silence—not unlike what many are experiencing during the quarantine—an unintended journey into the life of an urban monastic and a hermit experience,” Stephanie says. These experiences only solidified her faith and helped her to find her faith family.

These rocks of faith are essential, especially now in the face of COVID-19. Stephanie recognizes the consumer-related hardships as a result of the virus. “The current relief is a ‘stop’, a tourniquet, to prevent homelessness for non-payment of rent; however, this only delays the inevitable,” she says. “We already have a lack of affordable, safe housing (both rentals and purchases) in the Indianapolis-area, and this event (because of lack of work and income) can be projected to expand the number of families that have to face those issues and will increase many-fold the severity for those already affected.”

But for those struggling, she has some recommendations for right now: “I think it’s important that we all take each hour, each day as it comes and do the best, next, and right things we can do in that moment. That may be fixing a meal or settling your children in front of their schoolwork,” Stephanie says. “And then have a list of short-term tasks and long-term ideas to step-by-step, poco a poco, work on. Pray that God assists you in these tasks and that He eases your way.”

To learn more about our Consumer Justice Program, please visit our website.