Bringing True Justice and Hope to those in Need

In 1999 John Robb and I sat down over a cup of coffee in San Antonio, Texas never dreaming we would be here tonight. We were at a Christian Legal Society Conference where John was encouraging attorneys to start Christian Legal Aids across the country. He challenged us by asking, “Doesn’t the Bible have something to say about obligations for Christians and the Christian Church to help the poor – to defend the rights of the poor and needy.” I believed John was right and upon my return to Elgin met with my church. I provided them a proposal to start a Christian Legal Aid concluding, “The risk is minimal. The only chance for failure is a lack of spiritual commitment. There are many suffering individuals in the Fox Valley who need assistance and will not ordinarily walk through the doors of a church, but if they can receive assistance with their conflicts - legal, financial, or other - then perhaps the seeds of the Gospel can be sown in a very real demonstration of true justice and compassion.” Administer Justice began on February 14, 2000.

For the first two years we operated a couple Saturday mornings a month at Fox Valley Church in Dundee. Word spread fast and our phone answering machine was constantly full with requests for help. It became obvious that the need was far greater than what a part-time clinic could provide. So in the summer of 2002, I closed my successful private law practice. And in the fall of that year, Administer Justice became my full-time career.

Have you ever done something and then wondered: “what in the world was I thinking?” I certainly have. Here I was, earning so little I actually qualified for the low-income legal aid I was providing. I found myself angry and alone in an 8 x 10 office. I knew that more than 2,000 verses of the Bible cried out for justice, but I thought the sacrifice was too great. There I stood, a lawyer who had taken cases all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but who at that moment could not even figure out how to print an envelope. In desperation I cried, “What in the world am I doing here?” Though not audible, God’s response was clear, “My will, for whatever you do for the least of these you do unto me.”

I no longer serve alone. Since that day, God has enabled us to serve more than 15,000 of the least of these trapped in a complex legal and government system. I do that with the help of 12 staff members and nearly 200 volunteer attorneys, who join with more than 350 other volunteers who dare to make a difference. Together they help us carry out our mission to administer justice through a comprehensive program of educational outreach, legal assistance, financial counseling and conflict resolution services to empower the powerless, give hope to the hopeless and show mercy and compassion to those in need.

They fight against injustice and the lack of access to our judicial and government systems. They fight to prevent homelessness, fraud and abuse. They fight to provide stability to broken families. They fight to provide hope to the least of these.

The suburban poor are often overlooked and misunderstood. They are not drunks, mentally ill or lazy. They have low-wages or no wages as they try to support themselves and their family. The number one poor person in the suburbs is a child followed by his or her single parent. Your suburban school district has a homeless liason for these children. Ours served more than 600 students last year, because of family homes lost in foreclosure. Kane County has a foreclosure rate more than six times the national average. People are losing jobs, losing families, losing homes, losing hope right here in our neighborhoods.

On any given day our waiting room can be filled to overflowing. Almost every day people walk in off the street desperate for help. Our offices are filled to capacity with no more room to meet the growing demand for services. For the first time in history, the majority of the poor aren’t living in urban or rural areas, they live in the suburbs. Yet the suburbs have almost no resources. Only two legal service providers exist in Kane County and only one in most other counties outside Chicago. We are the only low income tax service provider outside of Chicago. Without an advocate, our seniors can lose their life savings; children can be lost without the stability of a guardianship; moms and children can be homeless without child support; dads can lose everything without unemployment; immigrants and other disadvantaged and disabled individuals are taken advantage of, and the whole of our democratic system suffers. We must not allow that to happen.

Think of what would have happened to Grant if Administer Justice was not there to intervene. Grant was going through life just like you and me until an accident left him with permanent brain damage. Disabled and alone, he was living in subsidized housing. The landlord wanted to get rid of Grant and filed an eviction notice for non-payment of rent. Grant was terrified. If he got evicted, he would be kicked out of the government program and be on the street, where he would probably die. A social service agency referred Grant to us. Grant could not believe an attorney would care enough to pray for him. After being treated so badly by his landlord, he was overwhelmed when that attorney also visited his home, went to his bank, and intervened on his behalf in court. At court the landlord changed the date for non-payment requiring another trial date. Our attorney pored over bank records again to prove payment, and ultimately the judge threw the landlord’s case out.

Administer Justice saved Grant from homelessness, but we also helped Grant understand that he mattered to God and he mattered to us. As he said, “Administer Justice made me feel completely at ease, like I was going to make it. Administer Justice helped me decide that I can live like anyone else. They put a perspective on life that I can grasp and work with. Thank God I got some help.”

Every day we have the opportunity to put a Godly perspective on life that makes a significant difference in the lives of people just like Grant. But there is much more that needs to be done.

Our board is casting a bold vision for the future. By 2020, when we gather to celebrate our next ten years together, Administer Justice will have branch offices in each of the collar counties making it possible for more people to find justice. We will lead the way and come alongside others in delivering gospel justice services all around the country. We will provide help each year to 20,000 low-income clients, and serve all who come regardless of race, religion or any other status. We will not discriminate but neither will we ignore the opportunity to provide the only real hope that can be found in the midst of great trials. The hope of the gospel. We will pray, we will equip and we will empower our clients to understand that God loves them and has a plan for their life. We will encourage them to be involved with a church and together we will transform lives not only in this life but for the life to come.

With your support that vision will become our future, and that future will begin tonight. Our theme for this evening is the Power of Ten. Ten years of service, ten years of future possibilities, ten people at your table who represent the real power of ten. Because with your support, we will double the number of clients helped every four years. With your support, Administer Justice will grow to stand in the gap on behalf of those in need – maybe someone you know – who without help or hope would be overwhelmed. With your support, we will make a difference. With your support we will spread the word and let God’s justice go forth as we do his will, answer his call, and serve the least of these with justice, mercy, compassion and hope.

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.