APPA Legal Clinic Service
Program Director:
James (DJ) Choi, Esq.
E-mail: dj.choi@christianlegalaid-dc.org
Website: http://www.christianlegalaid-dc.org
Please join us our legal clinic service every second Saturday, from 9:30 – 12:00 noon at the Third Street Church of God, located at 1204 Third Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.
Attorneys, law students, and other volunteers will once again come together with the clinic’s clients to share breakfast and privately render legal advice to help clients resolve their legal and spiritual needs. We hope you can be a part; your service makes legal assistance available to clients who may have no one else to turn to.
If you plan to serve, please reply to this e-mail. The number of clients we invite to attend depends on the number of volunteers able to assist them. For the sake of volunteers and clients alike, we want to keep a good attorney-client ratio. For that same reason, please consider finding a replacement for yourself if you RSVP as a “yes” but must withdraw.
If you cannot come to this clinic, but want to participate in future clinics, please note that we generally meet the second Saturday of every month.
Come and see the difference you can make. Also, feel free to invite friends and colleagues to join us. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 2 Corinthians 9:12-13
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact CLADC Attorney James ("DJ") Choi. James can be reached at dj.choi@christianlegalaid-dc.org.
With joy in service together,
James (DJ) Choi, Esq.
E-mail: dj.choi@christianlegalaid-dc.org
Website: http://www.christianlegalaid-dc.org/
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LAW CLINIC – FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Will sharing my Christian faith with willing clients violate any ethical rules?
A: No. A volunteer addressing a client's legal problems with advice that is consistent with the doctrines arising from Christian Scriptures, and/or sharing with a willing client how he/she came to believe in Jesus Christ, does not violate the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. In fact, it conforms specifically with Rule 2.1, which provides: "In representing a client, a lawyer shall exercise independent professional judgment and render candid advice. In rendering advice, a lawyer may refer not only to law but to other considerations such as moral, economic, social and political factors, that may be relevant to the client's situation." Moreover, the Comments to Rule 2.1 state the following: "Advice couched in narrow legal terms may be of little value to a client, especially where practical considerations, such as cost or effects on other people, are predominant. Purely technical legal advice, therefore, can sometimes be inadequate. It is proper for a lawyer to refer to relevant moral and ethical considerations in giving advice. Although a lawyer is not a moral advisor as such, moral and ethical considerations impinge upon most legal questions and may decisively influence how the law will be applied."
Q: How should I dress?
A: Dress for volunteers is business casual / casual.
Q: What should I bring?
A: The clinic leadership will supply you with a legal guidebook to frequently addressed issues, as well as all the forms necessary to conduct client intake. If you would like to bring your own laptop to access resource online using the clinic’s wireless connection, please feel free to do so.
Q: How do I get there?
A: If you are driving to the clinic, the church has a parking lot. If you are coming via metro, the church is located a short walk from the MT Vernon Sq/7th St-Convention Center metro station (the green/yellow line). Exit at 7th & M Streets, cross 7th Street, walk four blocks on M to Third Street, turn left.
Q: Is the clinic a safe environment?
A: We are grateful to you for volunteering. While the clinics have always been smooth and safe, we take your safety seriously. To that end, you will never be alone with a client, and we urge you to report anything that makes you uncomfortable. When parking your car, please remember that we are in an urban environment, so take normal precautions: lock your car doors, and conceal your valuables or take them inside with you.
Q: What if a client wants my contact information or needs to follow up with me regarding their case?
A: Volunteers are encouraged to offer clients the CLADC business cards that are available at each clinic. These cards provide a voice mail number, (202)315-3960, and email address, info@christianlegalaid-dc.org, where clients may leave messages to be forwarded to the appropriate attorney. Volunteers also have the option to provide clients with their personal contact information if they so choose.
Q: What about insurance?
A: All volunteers are covered by CLADC’s insurance
Community Service for the Homeless and Low-income
Program Directors:
Rev. Ung Soo Kim, appachoi@gmail.com
Rev. Duksoo Shin
Rev. Haechoon Oh
Mr. & Mrs. Jerome and Charmaine Ferbish
Website: www.4thfellowship.org
APPA and FSCF:
Fourth Street Community Fellowship (FSCF) is a Mennonite church that serves the primarily minority residents of poor urban neighborhoods in Washington, DC. FSCF was initiated and sponsored by APPA since 1999. The Action for Peace through Prayer and Aid (APPA) was founded in 1996 to serve the poor and homeless in Washington DC by providing material aid and conflict intervention. APPA's primary goals are: to end homelessness, foster racial harmony, and promote international peace and justice. Begun as a little shelter for the homeless on 4th Street NW in Washington, DC, in the past two decades APPA has developed its programs and services to address various needs. APPA now has branches in Baltimore, MD; NYC, New York; Atlanta, Georgia; London; Russia; Jordan; and Korea.
Worship for the Homeless:
FSCF’s unique worship program for the homeless is held at the House of Peace every Sunday. Forty to fifty homeless people gather weekly to worship God. This church is a self-reliance church “for the homeless, by the homeless, and of the homeless.”
Legal Aid Service:
APPA/FSCF provide monthly Christian legal aid clinics. These clinics offer legal and spiritual counsel for Washington D.C.’s homeless and low-income community members with legal issues. The services allow people to pray, share meals, fellowship, and have attorney and other professionals conduct intake interviews while providing referral follow-up session if necessary. The legal aid service is co-sponsored by the D.C. Christian Legal Aid Program of the Christian Legal Society which consists of Christian lawyers. The legal aid program’s office is open the second Saturday of every month with three-five lawyers and law school students available for counseling. When: 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. Second Saturday of the Month
Ending Homelessness:
APPA/FSCF’s one of main goals is to end homelessness. They work to achieve this goal by providing several different programs and opportunities for the homeless. These include providing jobs, its legal aid service program, and its FSCF’s worship program.
Feeding the Homeless:
APPA/FSCF have a regular meal program that runs Monday through Saturday in several parks including Franklin Park, McPherson Park, and Logan Circle in Washington D.C. and other states. During the summer and winter, about 400 teenagers volunteer are able to help provide meals for the homeless through the program.
Summer & Winter Short-term Mission:
The Summer/Winter Short-term Missions program is a popular program for teenagers who are looking to participate in a short-term inner-city missions program. Over 400 teenagers from all over the United States participate in the program every summer and winter. The program runs for seven days and allows its participants to partake in street cleaning, gardening, childcare, and seminars and workshops that are focused on ending homelessness. Participants of the program also provide the homeless with necessities such as blankets, school kits, newborn kits, and health kits. They also become involved in several of FSCF’s programs, including the feeding program and FSCF’s ‘Homeless Experience’ program.
The “Homeless Experience,” one of FSCF’s most popular programs allows for participants to empathize with the homeless by experiencing for six hours what the homeless experience daily. This comprises of fasting (no eating or drinking), no talking, sharing benches with the homeless, and meditating on themselves – particularly about their own identity, who Jesus Christ and his disciples were, and their own thirst, hunger, and loneliness.
Racial Harmony & Conflict Resolution:
APPA/FSCF are racial harmony and conflict oriented organizations, especially for multi-racial and multi-cultural societies. FSCF has a peace-building program that provides a cultural approach to multi-racial conflict. The organization has served as mediators while providing conflict resolutions for communities through this program..
Influenced by the 1994 Los Angeles Riots, FSCF has been particularly successful in lessening the conflict between Korean-Americans and African-Americans in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland. Through its “Kimchi Reconciliation,” FSCF serves Kimchi, a Korean side dish, to African-Americans. FSCF has been doing the “Kimchi Reconciliation” for over ten years and has since served over 50,000 African-Americans.
Founders & Executive Director:
Sang Jin Choi, 1-571-259-4937 (USA), appachoi@gmail.com