by Abigail Dame, ’24

My Center for Faith and Vocation Spring ’23 Internship provided me with the opportunity to experience how the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic is transforming people’s lives through the power of hope. There is a different part of the Indianapolis community that Butler University students do not often get to fully experience. Once a week, I traveled downtown to the Re-Entry Justice Program, Expungement Help Desk; I felt connected to downtown Indy and the individuals who came to the Help Desk for a second chance. Many individuals cannot have stable housing, job security, or close family relationships due to their past. The Help Desk can guide these individuals to hope and provide a space where they can move forward.

While interning at the Help Desk, I learned how to complete many kinds of paperwork such as conviction and non-conviction petitions and intake forms. I also worked on projects to assist in data collection and created learning materials for future interns. Before completing this internship, I did not know what expungement was or that there was an organization in Indianapolis that helped people get their criminal records expunged at no cost to them. I had little to no knowledge of legal language before this internship and now can use this knowledge to further advocate for the expungement progress later in life. This position allowed me to help people in a way I had no prior knowledge of. Watching the relief and joy on people’s faces when they realized that their records would be cleared warmed my heart and I was tremendously grateful for my own privilege. The stories I heard from people who came to the Help Desk will remain in my memory forever and I will continue to reflect on all I have learned from this opportunity.