Many people know the story of how Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic came to be born, how it sprang from the words of a pastor who cast a bold vision from the pulpit of the big stone church at 34th and Central. What might be less known is how the roots of the Clinic reach deeper into time, to the 1960s, when an all-white congregation refused to submit to white flight. Or even further into the past, to the 1920s, when a downtown church saw an emerging neighborhood as an opportunity for outreach. As such, Tabernacle Presbyterian Church’s seemingly out-of-the-blue decision to start a legal clinic decades later was not so out-of-the-blue at all, but rather, wonderfully consistent with its history.

It’s a cliché: Lawyers wear suits and ties. They carry briefcases and are serious with serious careers—the epitome of a grownup. Many days, this summary encapsulates precisely what I do. And I find the work fulfilling. But I also crave opportunities that shake up that routine, where I can use my education and stretch my legal muscles in service of the public good.

In 1992, the vision for the Legal Clinic was first expressed in a Palm Sunday sermon by Dr. Frank Kik at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. The church was located in the Mapleton-Fall Creek neighborhood and the sermon noted the incredible need for pro bono legal services in the area. Six Christian attorneys who were in attendance that day answered the call and founded what eventually became Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic.

Sherry explains the mission of Raphael: “Our mission is to serve everyone with the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, regardless of their race, ethnicity, language, ability to pay. We care for anyone.” And because Indiana has one of the highest rates of infant mortality in the country, they are particularly passionate about providing care and support to new mothers and infants. “We really focus on the things we can do to keep mom and baby safe through that first year,” she says. “If we can get them through that first year, our chances of setting them up for a healthier and safer life are much higher.”