by Jill Gentry

During the Spring 2015 semester, I served as a Project PEACE (Peaceful Engagement and Conflict Education) Intern at the NCLC, Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic. NCLC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation offering pro bono legal representation and preventive legal education to low income families in Indianapolis. As the clinic’s family law program, the objective of Project PEACE is to provide an alternative to contentious litigation for family law disputes. These alternatives include free mediation and collaborative law sessions, as well as peace-building workshops and monthly support group meetings.

As a senior pre-law student double-majoring in Political Science and Spanish, I found this unique opportunity with Project PEACE a mutually beneficial experience, where I learned how to engage my sensitive values, acquire innovative and practical research skills, and improve my Spanish, while I offered my experiences from both the classroom and prior professional experience. I was able to contextualize my classroom knowledge from my Political Science major to soundly survey and offer qualitative and quantitative statistical reports, which offered information about how Project PEACE can best serve clients and potential clients, to my attorney supervisor. I also had opportunities to utilize and improve my Spanish skills by translating Pro Se Motions for Mediation and informing potential Spanish-speaking clients about the Project’s services. My prior legal experience interning with the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., and the Indianapolis office of Barnes and Thornburg also allowed me to offer to Project PEACE my broad administrative skills and legal knowledge

Project PEACE’s holistic, justice-oriented approaches allow families going through conflict to leave a family law process with clear legal results, as well as healthier relationships between all involved, that cannot result from immediate court action. The Project’s methods include thought-sorting mechanisms that teach clients how to peacefully engage in the family law process and beyond in whatever conflicts arise in the future. As the Program continues to grow, these strategies work towards making these conflict strategies a norm in conflict resolution in Indianapolis, and I have no doubt that Project PEACE will play a great part in doing such.

My favorite part about interning with the NCLC was working with and learning from the innovative, thoughtful attorneys and staff members who have infectious passions for helping those in need in Indianapolis. I also appreciated NCLC’s accepting atmosphere, where the clinic’s values to help those in need “as a way of demonstrating Christ’s love,” applied not only between all working at the clinic, whether one was the Executive Director or a one-day volunteer, but to all potential clients. NCLC is truly a family, and those coming to the Clinic for help knew that NCLC was a safe space for open and honest conversation without judgment.