When it comes to Pray.Serve.Give., there is no doubt about the dedication our parishioners have to serving others. The Legal Clinic at Our Lady of Mercy, our sharing parish, is just one example of how talented attorneys in our parish live out this spirit of service.

 

The Legal Clinic allows these lawyers to share their skills with OLM parishioners, many of whom would never have access to legal advice. The clientele is mainly low-income parishioners at OLM, some of whom are undocumented, many of whom speak only Spanish.

 

Formed more than a

OLM Legal Clinic staff Claudia Granados, Charles Jordan, Edmundo Chavarria, and Maria Rodriguez.

 decade ago, the clinic is supported by Chicago Volunteer Legal Services (CVLS), which provides malpractice insurance, telephone answering, forms, training, and support staff to help attorneys with unfamiliar legal areas. Volunteers assist clients in civil matters such as family law, consumer, contracts, tort defense, and real estate, just to name a few. About 15 attorneys staff the clinic, several of whom are Saint Clement parishioners.

While the clinic is open every Saturday, each attorney rotates their services. Norman Jeddeloh spends his time at the clinic one Saturday morning every two or three months. "The people at OLM are very friendly and very thankful. Sometimes it ends up being just a consultation, sometimes more. I'm preparing to file a lawsuit against an insurance company for refusing to pay for a couple of automobile accidents where the covered person had the accident and the insurance company doesn't want to reimburse for the cost of the accident. What we get into is there are people without a great deal of resources, many are undocumented and many try to take advantage of them because they can. We try to give them a little power."

Parishioner Bridget Orsic helps OLM Legal Clinic clients on a recent Saturday.

Parishioner Bridget Orsic joined the Legal Clinic in 2004 after her first child was born. "I had decided to take a break from working full time, but still wanted the challenges that come with the practice of law. It has been a tremendously rewarding and eye-opening experience. One of the cases that has always stuck with me was not a legal case at all. A family had a son whose birth certificate listed him as a female. This posed problems when it came time to register him for school, among other things. I agreed to help them, although they did not need a lawyer to solve this problem. It took approximately six months of phone calls and paperwork to straighten out the mistake. While it did not take a lot of my time, it is difficult to imagine how this family would have navigated the process on their own."

She continues, "I have been touched many times over the years by a thoughtful card, a project made by a child, or a hug from a client, reminding me that we can make a big difference in someone's life by volunteering just a few hours of time. Once, a client with a custody issue handed me a heartfelt thank you card and walked quickly away. Inside the note were grocery gift cards for $400, which was such a large amount of her annual income that I don't know how she managed it. I returned the gift cards and let her know that helping her provided a great benefit to me, personally, and the money was not necessary. I would recommend that any attorney interested in the clinic check it out. It is such a meaningful ministry and the time spent is paid off many times over when you see your experience benefiting those who do not have the same access to, or understanding of, the justice system that we so often take for granted."

Jeddeloh echoes her sentiment. "There is a tremendous need that has to be filled. I have received many, many blessings and have been blessed with some skills in law. It would seem to me to be wrong in some way not to give some of that back. I could never cause the equation to be balanced; I'm always going to be more blessed than what I can give back, but it seems to be a part of what we who have been blessed should be doing. It feels really good. It's good to help people, and in some way, helping them to live their lives a little bit better. Also, it's a good chance to work on my Spanish!"

Licensed attorneys willing to assist OLM parishioners and others in the community through the Legal Clinic can contact Sarah Flosi at 773-525-4954.

As part of our ongoing engagement process, we have come to realize the importance of parishioners sharing their personal stories of how they have connected with Saint Clement as an important factor in their lives. As a feature twice a month, we share the stories and reflections of our engaged parishioners who are living a stewardship life of prayer, service, and giving. This week we hear from Steve & Nicole VanderVoort.

"We joined Saint Clement Parish in 1980. Our family had been attending school at St. Michael's parish in Old Town, but the Parish announced that its school was closing, and Saint Clement was the first parish north of us that had a school. Luckily for us, at that time there were no waiting lists for students wishing to become enrolled.

Little did we suspect what awaited us at Saint Clement. Almost no maintenance had been done on the church for the past 30 years. We became part of the Finance Committee and participated in two major fundraising efforts to restore the church to its former glory and preserve it for future generations. And we continue to support the parish through the Sunday Giving Commitment. Steve went through the RCIA program (he was one of only two catechumens in the fall of 1980), and we both participated on the RCIA team for several years thereafter.

But we believe that our real service to Saint Clement has been to help in developing a ministry to married couples. When we first came to the parish, we formed a couples group that eventually grew into what are today six groups known as "Clement Couples." Out of this original ministry we helped to form other ministries to married couples. Over the years we sponsored many weekend couples' retreats both here in the parish and at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein. We were also part of the original Pre-Cana team in 1988 that offers a program for engaged couples who are getting married in the Catholic faith. We're still part of the Pre-Cana team, and we love this ministry.

And we're still as enthusiastic about being a part of Saint Clement as we were when we originally joined. Over the years, our Saint Clement community has truly taught us the meaning of the words: PRAY, SERVE, GIVE." 

For more information on upcoming events, including our regular, weekly opportunities, please view the parish's master calendar.