Hello! After another week, it’s great to write about my experiences here at Legal Aid. This week, work came back into its normal swing of things with the holiday week over and everyone back in office. I was able to get back into my normal routine in the office and work alongside my fellow clerks and staff, which I appreciate.

This week, we finally are starting to kickoff our “story bank” project, which will be a long-term (and hopefully useful) tool that has the potential to serve Legal Aid staff across its many teams for a number of different purposes. The basic idea is an easily accessible and navigable database of compelling and interesting stories from client experiences that might prove useful for some future need, whether that be for annual reports, social media, donor outreach, grant applications, community networking, or even the Ohio Poverty Law Center’s advocacy work. The point is to have all our usable stories with pictures, quotes, and written summaries in one place so that it could be easily pulled when needed.

However, before it could be used, a lot of work is to be done. Right now, in its earliest stages, I have been working through Legal Aid’s online records to compile resources located across many different places. Furthermore, building the actual structure of this bank needs to be done, along with making sure there is proper documentation for permission of use for every story listed, which is of top importance in this project.

Besides this, I had the opportunity to staff a table at one of Legal Aid’s outreach events. This time, it was another record sealing/expungement/reentry event held in Franklinton. It was a great experience to let possible clients know of our services and upcoming reentry clinics, which could be a life-changing opportunity for those who come. In the near future, I am excited to keep working on this story bank project, along with assisting in the early stages of promoting the Ohio Poverty Law Center’s 15^th Anniversary Event, held in September.