The Gift of Justice - the Administer Justice story
The text is taken from a speech made by the founder and Executive Director of Administer Justice, Bruce Strom, on October 16, 2008:
It was ten years ago on a Thursday night in October that I stood before a large gathering of attorneys as president of Christian Legal Society of Illinois and announced that my wife, Helen and I were expecting twins. A few days earlier we were looking at an ultrasound and saw the tiny heartbeats of two peanuts. Leaving the doctor's office that day we saw a faint but distinct double rainbow in the sky. Eight months later on the eve of our son's birth we were eating with friends and family and the entire restaurant emptied outside. As we followed their gaze to the sky above us we saw the brightest double rainbow I have ever seen.
It is a powerful story but what does it have to do with Administer Justice? To understand that, I have to take you back over the 7 years prior to that. Years filled with doctor's appointments, surgeries, and a cycle of hopelessness, anger and despair. There was a profound injustice in our inability to have children while teenagers gave birth, babies were abandoned, and other parents treated their children as custody commodities. But through that experience I learned that in the midst of pain there is promise. And nowhere is a promise more visible than in the rainbow.
Sometimes it seems like there is no end to difficult circumstances. Life can seem hopeless. But God is not absent in times of trouble and while His promises are not always as clear as the rainbow, they are always present. That reality prepared me for the Christmas present Helen made for me while pregnant which contained daily verses of justice. One of those verses was Zechariah 7:9-10, “This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘Administer true Justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” That passage would serve as the foundation for Administer Justice.
While I would love to say that my lesson in suffering and understanding of justice led me to immediately quit my job and go charging to the rescue of disadvantaged people that is not true. In truth my eyes were opened to the significant needs of people around me. I realized that poverty was not only an inner city issue and that pain was universal. But the further truth is I saw my own reality. I had infant twin sons. My wife was not working and I was the senior partner of a successful law practice with multiple offices and a wonderful staff. It would take three more years for me to shut down my law practice and begin Administer Justice full-time during which time I realized that there was no one else to meet the growing legal needs in our community.
I remember well the October morning six years ago when I sat in Administer Justice’s first 8 x 10 office all alone. Oh how the mighty had fallen. I had stood in the halls of courthouses all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but as I stood before a printer I had met my match. I could not figure out how to print an envelope. In that moment I remember crying out loud – “I must be crazy. What in the world am I doing here?” Though not audible, the response was just as clear. “My will. For whatever you do for the least of these you do unto me.”
Since that day I have been joined by many others who have a desire to administer justice for all. While it is obvious that faith motivates my desire and that of many of our volunteers - that same faith would never place any barriers to service. Regardless of race, religion, national origin, age, disability or any other status, we exist to serve. I believe God loves all people and that all people matter to Him. As a result they matter to us. In a few short years we have grown from an organization of one to a staff of six; from ten volunteers to over 330; from seven volunteer attorneys to 134; from two thousand dollars in revenue to over $349,000; from helping 23 people to helping more than 2,800 people.
While the numbers are great, greater still is the stories behind each number. Time and again our clients comment on our concern and care for them; for our compassion and guidance. Free professional assistance is hard to find and is desperately needed in our community today.
Kane County has the third largest poverty population in the state with more than 110,000 people living below 200% of the poverty guideline – nearly 23% of our total population. Our poverty has increased more than 221% over the past five years. We rank second in asset poverty rate (meaning our people do not have more than three months poverty level savings) and we rank number one in having the largest concentration of Latinos at 28% of our population – much higher in Elgin, Carpentersville and Dundee. The need to overcome language and economic barriers is great.
The needs are not new. I am certain you know someone who is or has struggled with our justice system. A child or grandchild, sibling, parent, nephew, niece or neighbor - and you have watched helplessly from the sideline as they lost hope and could not find help. The child with drug addicted parents needing a stable home through a guardianship, the mother needing stability through the collection of child support, the father wanting to establish a relationship with his child, the family torn apart by divorce or struggling to keep their home, the older person fending off abuse and fraud. For all these we exist.
I want to finish the Administer Justice story by having you imagine a world without Administer Justice: hundreds of residents would be homeless, scores would be struggling without help or hope, trust in our judicial system would be strained, our courts would be stretched, and the other legal service provider overwhelmed. It is a bleak and real world.
But let me for a moment have you imagine a future with Administer Justice. That future includes a much larger facility in Elgin to allow us to use more volunteers - volunteers we presently have to turn away because of our limited space in Dundee. That future includes increased staff, including a bilingual attorney, other attorneys and support staff to provide more representation and more proactive education to help prevent major problems. That future includes increased support to enable us to grow. Because we do not charge for our services, we rely on donor support. We have no development department or fancy fundraising so .99 of every dollar goes to programming. Like the families we serve, we understand the need to make a dollar stretch and operate at less than 400% of other professional service providers. Your investment in the lives of people in need goes a long way with us and we take that investment seriously.
Finally, that future will continue to see a growth in strategic partnerships as we work alongside attorneys, government, social service providers, education, churches, courts and others. We will look at expanding access sites at the Kane County Judicial Center, DuPage County and elsewhere to make equal access to justice possible. We will continue to encourage others to start Christian legal aid organizations around the country and even the world through the use of cutting edge Internet technology in Justice Center Online.
With your help that future is bright. We will continue to educate and empower the powerless. We will continue to give hope to the hopeless. We will continue to show mercy and compassion to a community in need. We will seek to overcome barriers to break down the dividing wall of hostilities as we holistically address the needs around us. We will not do this alone. We cannot do this alone.
I know the economy is tough and that is precisely why I am asking you to strongly consider a sacrificial gift. While we all suffer, those with little suffer most. I gave up a lucrative career in the law and know what it means to sacrifice. I am asking you to make a sacrificial gift to help the poor in our community. I am asking you to stretch outside your comfort zone, to see a world without Administer Justice and to boldly envision the future possibilities as we work together to achieve justice for all. Justice for all begins with you. Will you heed the challenge and join us in this amazing justice journey. I pray that you will. Thank you.
Sometimes it seems like there is no end to difficult circumstances. Life can seem hopeless. But God is not absent in times of trouble and while His promises are not always as clear as the rainbow, they are always present. That reality prepared me for the Christmas present Helen made for me while pregnant which contained daily verses of justice. One of those verses was Zechariah 7:9-10, “This is what the Lord Almighty says, ‘Administer true Justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.” That passage would serve as the foundation for Administer Justice.
While I would love to say that my lesson in suffering and understanding of justice led me to immediately quit my job and go charging to the rescue of disadvantaged people that is not true. In truth my eyes were opened to the significant needs of people around me. I realized that poverty was not only an inner city issue and that pain was universal. But the further truth is I saw my own reality. I had infant twin sons. My wife was not working and I was the senior partner of a successful law practice with multiple offices and a wonderful staff. It would take three more years for me to shut down my law practice and begin Administer Justice full-time during which time I realized that there was no one else to meet the growing legal needs in our community.
I remember well the October morning six years ago when I sat in Administer Justice’s first 8 x 10 office all alone. Oh how the mighty had fallen. I had stood in the halls of courthouses all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but as I stood before a printer I had met my match. I could not figure out how to print an envelope. In that moment I remember crying out loud – “I must be crazy. What in the world am I doing here?” Though not audible, the response was just as clear. “My will. For whatever you do for the least of these you do unto me.”
Since that day I have been joined by many others who have a desire to administer justice for all. While it is obvious that faith motivates my desire and that of many of our volunteers - that same faith would never place any barriers to service. Regardless of race, religion, national origin, age, disability or any other status, we exist to serve. I believe God loves all people and that all people matter to Him. As a result they matter to us. In a few short years we have grown from an organization of one to a staff of six; from ten volunteers to over 330; from seven volunteer attorneys to 134; from two thousand dollars in revenue to over $349,000; from helping 23 people to helping more than 2,800 people.
While the numbers are great, greater still is the stories behind each number. Time and again our clients comment on our concern and care for them; for our compassion and guidance. Free professional assistance is hard to find and is desperately needed in our community today.
Kane County has the third largest poverty population in the state with more than 110,000 people living below 200% of the poverty guideline – nearly 23% of our total population. Our poverty has increased more than 221% over the past five years. We rank second in asset poverty rate (meaning our people do not have more than three months poverty level savings) and we rank number one in having the largest concentration of Latinos at 28% of our population – much higher in Elgin, Carpentersville and Dundee. The need to overcome language and economic barriers is great.
The needs are not new. I am certain you know someone who is or has struggled with our justice system. A child or grandchild, sibling, parent, nephew, niece or neighbor - and you have watched helplessly from the sideline as they lost hope and could not find help. The child with drug addicted parents needing a stable home through a guardianship, the mother needing stability through the collection of child support, the father wanting to establish a relationship with his child, the family torn apart by divorce or struggling to keep their home, the older person fending off abuse and fraud. For all these we exist.
I want to finish the Administer Justice story by having you imagine a world without Administer Justice: hundreds of residents would be homeless, scores would be struggling without help or hope, trust in our judicial system would be strained, our courts would be stretched, and the other legal service provider overwhelmed. It is a bleak and real world.
But let me for a moment have you imagine a future with Administer Justice. That future includes a much larger facility in Elgin to allow us to use more volunteers - volunteers we presently have to turn away because of our limited space in Dundee. That future includes increased staff, including a bilingual attorney, other attorneys and support staff to provide more representation and more proactive education to help prevent major problems. That future includes increased support to enable us to grow. Because we do not charge for our services, we rely on donor support. We have no development department or fancy fundraising so .99 of every dollar goes to programming. Like the families we serve, we understand the need to make a dollar stretch and operate at less than 400% of other professional service providers. Your investment in the lives of people in need goes a long way with us and we take that investment seriously.
Finally, that future will continue to see a growth in strategic partnerships as we work alongside attorneys, government, social service providers, education, churches, courts and others. We will look at expanding access sites at the Kane County Judicial Center, DuPage County and elsewhere to make equal access to justice possible. We will continue to encourage others to start Christian legal aid organizations around the country and even the world through the use of cutting edge Internet technology in Justice Center Online.
With your help that future is bright. We will continue to educate and empower the powerless. We will continue to give hope to the hopeless. We will continue to show mercy and compassion to a community in need. We will seek to overcome barriers to break down the dividing wall of hostilities as we holistically address the needs around us. We will not do this alone. We cannot do this alone.
I know the economy is tough and that is precisely why I am asking you to strongly consider a sacrificial gift. While we all suffer, those with little suffer most. I gave up a lucrative career in the law and know what it means to sacrifice. I am asking you to make a sacrificial gift to help the poor in our community. I am asking you to stretch outside your comfort zone, to see a world without Administer Justice and to boldly envision the future possibilities as we work together to achieve justice for all. Justice for all begins with you. Will you heed the challenge and join us in this amazing justice journey. I pray that you will. Thank you.
Labels: compassion, justice, mercy, strom
posted by Bruce D. Strom at 11:19 AM
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